Life in Darkness
by GodsOfTheSea
Summary: Takashi and his group venture out after escaping Saya Takagi's house. life is beginning to look bleak as the group struggles in this new world, but Hope may come in many forms, or many blessings. Explore the Darkness with me as we dive in to the realm of Chaos and Gods.
1. Life in Darkness

Hi guys! If your reading this I just want to thank you for taking your time in reading my story. This story is a continuation of the anime set after leaving Takagi's house. I will somewhat stick to canon but haven't decided how far I want to go with it. When I watched the anime I realized that despite the ecchi it was pretty dark but it could be darker. Anyways enjoy and I will see you after the chapter!

Edit 6/28/20

as of the 5th chapter i decided to take the story down a supernatural route more so then just the darkness. If that is your thing then i hope that you find this an enjoyable read, if that is not your thing, then feel free to message/ write a review and i will do my best to help you out.

**Act 1 The Dead's Decision**

_**17:30**_

_**Takagi's House +1**_

**Takashi**

It had barely been 24 hours since they left Saya's house, but to me it felt like just seconds ago. The group and I, were currently still in the Humvee, traveling down some, now abandoned, highway high up in the hills. To the east of him was the countryside, the bright green and reds of the trees a stark contrast to the death that was going around them.

Throughout the hills, houses dotted the gaps in the trees, a few them just husks of a house, the ruined remains of what was clearly an inferno of a fire. Behind him to the south, he could only make out some pillars of smoke rising above the trees, their origin unknown.

We currently were heading towards the north, where I was able to see the city. Or rather, what was left of it.

The numerous skyscrapers that once shined upon the city with their dazzling lights and colors were now dark and silent, the numerous windows flickering from the flames below being the only source of light in the city. Dotted among the many small buildings, I could just make out still raging fires, with the smoke that was emanating from some source, was the color black as death.

Standing through the bay on the top of car, I looked around at the trees, thinking of what my next step was for the group. Rei's and my house were towards the west, turning my head I look at what I think is the general area of where we lived. All I was able to see were trees and a building through the smoke, it was just starting to get dark, the sun turning a deep red as it lowered. It was as though the sun knew just how bloody my world has become.

Actually, more so how I had become. I only just realized it that day at the shrine with Saeko. How they both had that darkness. When I shot that guy defending Rei, I enjoyed it, that feeling of power, that ability to know I was capable of defending her, it was addicting.

But with Saeko it was different. It was though on some level they connected, this darkness. They alone, knew that in this new world killing would always be inevitable. But it wasn't just that, that made me feel this attraction, it was her desire and her mental state. If we were in a tough situation and I was with her, I know I would be safe, I know I can trust her with my life.

_But does she feel the same?_

I shake the thought out of my head immediately.

_Why am I thinking that, I still have feelings for Rei, don't I?_

Rei. The girl who I had pinky promised to marry, only to be dumped for my friend. I wasn't mad, more hurt, but over time I learned to deal, however for the first few days, all she kept fucking talk about was Hisashi! God it made me so mad. Really mad, you know? Like I understand that her boyfriend just died, but I had to kill him! Me! Not Her! _But you wanted to kill him, didn't you? Him being one of __**Them **__just gave you an excuse. _I shake the horrible thoughts out of my head, horrified that thought went through my head, and went back to think of Rei.

When I argued with her at Shizuka's friend's house, I know something finally clicked in her. It made her realize that she should be happy she's still alive_, _and that whatever it was with Hisashi, ended that day.

_But still, where does that leave us? As friends definitely, but could there be more? Should there be more? After all what about Saeko? When I told her I needed her I meant it, but, love? I do love her, don't I?_

"Hey Takashi, what's that over there?" Kohta's voice suddenly bringing me back to reality, instead of being among the chaos that was now my heart and head. Looking up, I see him point at something in the distance. Lifting my rifle, I look through the scope at where he pointed. It was that building that had poked through the smoke to the west.

Kohta was an interesting person, who definitely changed since shit hit the fan. The dude found his true calling in becoming the groups gun expert and sniper. From long range, Kohta was by far the most lethal in the group with guns. He also seemed to have feelings for Saya, as he was very protective of her.

"Uhh, it looks like a big complex. Hold on there's writing on the top." I say to Kohta, adjusting the scope to get a better look at the building. "It looks… it looks like a mall!" I say happily at Kohta. Mall means stores and stores means supplies and food.

"Yea it could be a good thing, but how far do you think it is?" Kohta says, his hands shading his eyes as he looked at the distance between them and the mall. "Looks to me about 10 miles, and it's near the city" Kohta said dejectedly. 10 miles. In normal traffic that would only take them about 30 minutes, however this was not a normal situation.

_We still have yet to get there; we don't know what lies ahead. _I thought, mulling over this information. Mall means resources, but it's close proximity to the city could mean more of **Them**. It's a tough decision, and even as their leader I know I can't make this decision alone. I look around at my friends as I prepare myself to inform them of our current situation.

The blonde-haired Mrs. Shizuka was in the front driving, staring intently out the windshield as she waved her way through the carnage that littered the highway. As I was briefly looking past her, I couldn't help but stare briefly at her huge chest, the peaks of her hills almost smushed up against the steering wheel. Her breasts were by far the biggest in the group, and the adorable klutz could easily suffocate you with them purely by accident.

As far as fighting skills is concerned Mrs. Shizuka would be dead last. That blonde was true to her stereotype, klutz and all, however when it came to medical knowledge, I'm very happy that she's with us. She was the doctor and driver of their group.

Even though she was only a nurse, she knows a hell of a lot more then the rest of our group. _Maybe not Saya, _I chuckle to myself at the thought. Speaking of which, Saya was sitting in the passenger seat next to Mrs. Shizuka, staring out the window, her pink hair dully shining in the fading light of the sun. If you didn't know her, you would've thought she was looking at her surroundings.

But I knew. And I know her. She was staring into the nothingness, her mind right now so fragile like glass, that it made me really worried about her. It's barely been 24 hours since her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Takagi, sacrificed themselves to ensure that their daughter made it out alive. Whatever happened of them we may never know, but it was safe to assume that that was the last time Saya will ever see her parents.

Despite all this, I knew deep down that Saya was strong, and given her time she will bounce back. Right now, she needs to grieve, but this information was more important. She was the brains after all, and her knowledge and factual way of looking at things was a very useful asset.

I look behind me in the backseat, where the rest of their group was sitting. Saeko was to the left of him, resting up against the side of the car, soundly asleep. Even though she was asleep, she could kill within a second of waking up. As the group's swordswoman and combat tactician, she was without a doubt their most lethal fighter in the group.

Alice and her dog Zeke were in the middle. Alice was their little sister in the group, and the rest of us made a promise to always protect Alice first. Alice was fast asleep, her head resting on Rei's breast, the pressure of her head causing Rei's nipple to poke out firmly through her shirt.

_Oh my god, she's not wearing a bra! _

Briefly thinking very, very dirty thoughts, I finally snap out of it as I look up to Rei's face. Unlike the others in the back she was wide awake. She was staring out the window, her eyes in the reflection whizzing at everything that was going around them.

_Even now, as we drive, she's taking in everything. _

That was another thing that amazed me about Rei. Ever since the high rise she's become more… determined. About what I didn't know.

Crouching down, so I was inside the cab, I motioned to Kohta to follow suit. "Shizuka pull over for a second." I say to her with a stern voice, ensuring she knew it was serious. "Umm okay." She says meekly, clearly confused about the request, but listening regardless.

The car jolted slightly as she hit the brakes, resulting in jostling all the people on board, effectively waking them all up. Saeko perked up immediately, looking straight at me with questions clearly floating in her blue eyes. With the car finally coming to a stop, along with a quick check to make sure none of **Them** were around, I leaned down and began to tell them what me and Kohta saw.

**Saeko**

Running through the tree's I center my breathing to maintain my energy, dashing under branches and over roots I keep running, running towards his screams. "SAEKOOO!" the voice screams again. It always sounded farther, no matter how hard I ran.

"I'm coming for you!" I shout into the blackness beyond the endless trees. "I'm coming!" I yell again, as I struggle to maintain my speed. My legs were beyond the point of burning that I barely felt them from the pain. My arms, numb from the countless slashes and hacks I lashed out, felt as though they were made of molten lead.

"I'm here!" the voice shouted now as though it was behind me, making me momentarily stop as I readjust to hear this new voice. This voice was different, almost as though it was softer, like a feather. "HELPP MEE!" The voice called out in front of her again, this time sounding as if it was pleading with me. Overcome with guilt for delaying, I immediately continued running towards the voice.

"Please don't go" The voice says again behind me this time as though the source was almost her ear, despite her currently running. The voice sounded familiar, and as I tried to focus on why, all around me it started to get brighter, not by much but by a fraction.

Seeing this difference, I immediately stopped running, turning around desperate to see where the voice had come from…..

Only to be shaken awake and immediately go alert.

_Why we stop? What's wrong? Is Takashi ok? _

This last thought immediately made me turn to my… well Takashi, I looked at him with questions in my eyes. He stared at me and his gaze was comforting. There was no hate or anger, only respect and something else that made me wonder what he was thinking.

He finally tore his gaze from me and looked around at the rest of the group, clearly determined about something. "Me and Kohta have something to tell you guys." Takashi looked at Kohta, who was nodding his head in response. "We see a mall about 10 miles west of us. This means possible supplies and rest"

Saya immediately perked up and started talking. "true, but that mall is the one by the city, right? Is about 12 miles from the center of the city which could still mean that there are a lot of **Them,** there right?"

"Also true, but we need to consider the fact that other survivors might have the same idea, meaning that we might not be the only ones going there." I say to the genius. "Your right, and these people may or may not be friendly." Saya replies as she readjusts her glasses. "Which leads us to our second choice, right Takashi?" looking up at him as she finished.

"Right" Takashi responds, "The other option is to head to Rei's house then mine, however that will start to bring us in the opposite direction of the mall." He says grimly.

"Going farther away from it decreases the chances of us actually going to it, which could be a gamble because eventually we will need resources and supplies." I interject him, Takashi looked over and gave me a small smile with his lips, but his eyes were still dark. "Yes but we need to consider what's important for the group, not just Rei and me."

Taken aback, I immediately can guess as to why Takashi said that. There is a very big chance that any survivors in Takashi and Rei's neighborhood may have also thought of heading to the mall for shelter and supplies. This would then mean that any attempt of going to their parent's house would be a wasted effort, and could possibly lead them worse off.

Looking at him, I knew he was thinking along the same thing, that's one of the things I admired about him. Regardless of the situation he has always kept his calm, even when me, the fearless one, froze up at the shrine, he was able to do what I couldn't.

He woke up something inside me that fateful day, something that had been buried underneath all that darkness inside me, and he was able anchor it. He kept that part of me above that abyss of inky blackness that threatened to swallow me whole.

I would die for him.

I would kill for him.

He was my light in the dark.

_Light in the dark… my dream? Could it be? _ Could Takashi have been that voice behind her? If so then who was the voice in front of her?

Lost in my thoughts, the group was silently processing this new information until finally Saya spoke up. "So, I think we should go to the mall." Her voice being one of resignation yet at the same time, determination. "There's too great a chance that Rei and Takashi's parents headed that way and more importantly, we need supplies. Mainly food." _Ahh so she thought of the same thing as me and Takashi did. Smart girl. _

The group listening to her realized the deadly truth in her words. Sure, they had plenty of ammunition for their weapons, but food? Their food supply only had maybe a day's ration left if not two, should they use it sparingly. They needed to secure more rations, but more importantly…

"It's getting dark, where are we going for the night? I doubt Mrs. Shizuka can keep going all night, and its not safe to have the lights on, we would stick out in the darkness." My comments, immediately ended whatever conclusion the group had come too regarding the previous discussion.

"We should find a house nearby and secure it for the night." Takashi suggested. The group thought about it. "Wouldn't it make more sense to keep driving Brother Takashi?" Alice said with a sleepy voice. "No little one," Shizuka said sweetly to the little girl. "Its's safer for us to be in a house right now okay?" "Okai" Alice said sleepily as she drifted back into ignorant bliss.

"Ok so it's been decided then, Shizuka pull off the highway at the next exit." Takashi directed to the buxom blonde, his voice, despite the situation, was full of confidence when he talked. The nearest exit sign indicating they still had 6 miles to go.

_Isn't he scared? No, he is scared, but he puts a brave face for the group. Oh, Takashi… You don't have to put on such a brave face. You have the rest of us here to help you, and you will have me. I will always be there to defend you. To be your sword, and let you wield it as you see fit. _

Floating aimlessly, I drift off in my thoughts, the others around me completely oblivious to the swirling storm in my head as they continue their conversations. Looking outside I take note of how far we've gone as a group. Despite all that we had faced, we were still here, as a family.

**19:30**

**Takagi's House +1**

I lost track of how much time had passed when the next exit sign for the highway finally appeared. As we made our way towards this new hope that lay ahead of us, the road began to become more clogged with abandoned cars. "We must be getting closer to the city." I say to myself quietly. Sure enough the 2 mile marker for the exit passes by the window.

_Well it's a good time for a stretch_. Gliding up from my seat I hoist myself through the gap, pushing Kohta and Takashi aside.

"Excuse me boys" I say to them, as I keep my eyes on Takashi. I was well aware of the fact that due to the small space the three of them occupied, my breasts were pressed firmly up against Takashi's chest. My nipples immediately hardened at the thought of being in such close contact to him, his face mere inches away from mine. His face had taken on a slight red tone, and for the briefest of moments I caught him looking down at my breasts. All I have to do is lean forward and I could kiss him, his lips no doubt just as soft as they were at the shrine.

*cough*

The sound cut right through the fantasy that played in my head. Looking down I realize that the source of the noise came from Rei. She was staring directly at me, her face flickering with different emotions; rage, contempt, and jealousy? Hmm… so maybe she does have feelings for him, the mere thought making my heart feel heavier. I look over back to Takashi, who was looking at Rei, embarrassment written all over his face. But does he still have feelings for her?

Not letting the thoughts go any farther then that I continue hoisting myself up though the cab, and stand up on the car. Stretching out my back and my arms, I moan in relief at the blood coursing through my once idle muscles. I preferred moving, I hate staying in a vehicle, but I understand its purpose.

I looked out towards the west, were the sun was now low enough to be looked at briefly. _We need to find shelter fast it will get pretty dark soon. _They couldn't rely on the moon tonight, for it was barely a crescent, the new moon only happening a few days ago.

"Ok, so where do I go now" Shizuka replied, as she slowed the car down and prepared to exit the highway. "Make a left and slow down we will take a look at the houses." Takashi responded. Seeing what he saw it was the smart move, the right of the exit leading towards the city, and inevitably towards more of **Them**.

"We shouldn't go too far from the highway; we may need to use it as an escape route." Kohta said quietly to Takashi and me. "True but you also saw how crowded the highway was getting, there's no telling that we may end up blocked somewhere between exits." I add on. "How far is the mall from here Kohta?" Takashi asked. "Umm…" Kohta pushed the bridge of his glasses up his nose, looking out towards the west, deep in thought. "Not including the possible numerous detours, we need to go about 2 more miles, so we should arrive by tomorrow. With hope" the last part barely a whisper from Kohta, as he focused on inspecting his gun.

"Either way we need to find shelter for the night." Takashi said, his voice cutting through the silence that followed Kohta. "What about that one?" I said pointing towards the house that just appeared around the corner.

Takashi lowered his head into the cab underneath them. "Shizuka go to that house over there please." He said, pointing out the house I mentioned. "Okay!" Shizuka replied cheerfully. _How she stays so happy is beyond me. _

Shizuka pulls the car up to house and I finally get a good look at it. The building resembled a doujou, the rectangular building facing the road length wise, an iron gate wrapped around the property. In the center of the front yard there is what remains of a statue sitting in the middle of a long-abandoned fountain, the statues face destroyed, as though some vandal smashed it in half.

The house itself was in better shape, the walls freshly painted white, and the wood tiles on the roof glowed softly in the fading light. "This is a fighting doujou, there may be weapons and or some supplies here at least." I announce to Takashi and the others. Takashi nods his head and tells the group that he agrees as well and we should stay here. His eyes told me more. They told me that he didn't just agree for the group, but he agreed because he trusted my judgement.

_He loves me._

_Right?_

Takashi jumps off the Humvee, landing on the sidewalk. "I'm going to go see if I can find a way in." He says urgently. The loud noise of the car had no doubt attracted what few of **Them **remained in the area.

_Alone? _

"I'm coming with you." I say to Takashi as I stand and glide off the car. Hitting the ground with feline precision, not a noise was made as I finished the descent. Standing up I look straight at Takashi and stare into his eyes. "You are not going alone. End of discussion." I say to him firmly, my eyes showing there was no room for argument.

"I'm coming too then!" I look up to see Rei half outside the Humvee, worry and anger written over her face. "No stay here with Kohta, defend the Humvee till we come back." I say sternly to her. "But…" Rei meekly replied, taken aback at the tone in my voice. "Three is too many for a scouting party, please Rei we will be right back." I now say, almost pleading to her. I really wasn't, but I knew that's what the girl would've wanted. Sure enough, she took the bait and sighed, clearly relieved in her *victory* "Ok, but if anything happens to Takashi I will kill you!" she say with her finger pointed right at me. _You can try little girl, you can try. _Instead, I gave her a nice smile, "Of course Rei, we will be right back." I turn around and leap over the fence, quickly followed by Takashi.

A.N.

Sooo what you think? I'm thinking of doing the next chapter in third person instead of first, so let me know if that's something you want or if I should keep it as is.

This story will be rated M going on for violence, gore, nudity, sexual action etc.

As always please read and review I would love to hear your thoughts.


	2. A Light in the Dark Part 1

This will be a part 1 for the first Minor Arc

Rated M for graphic violence and disturbing scenes.

**Act Two: The Light is Big Enough for Two**

**19:45 **

**Takagi's House +1**

**Takashi**

I follow Saeko after she gracefully leaps over the fence. Since I wasn't as graceful as her, it took me a second longer to manage making it over. Once landing I immediately look to both of my sides, ensuring that the sound of my landing didn't attraction the attention of any possible nearby **Them. **

"This way" Saeko whispers to me, as she darts over to the corner of the house, quiet as a mouse. I quicken my pace to keep up with her, my footsteps muted from the soft grass. Arriving at the corner, Saeko quickly glances around the corner, recoiling almost immediately.

"There's two of them down the side." She whispers to me, her voice tinged with pleasure. I could see the silver start to tint her blue eyes. I knew she was going to enjoy what was about to occur.

I've began to notice these things about her, especially her eyes, how they would start to turn silver every time she prepared herself to kill. _Is that what I'm like? Do my eyes turn silver too? Or is it just her. _

"Takashi, you ok?" Saeko's worried voice, cutting through my thoughts. "Yea I'm fine." I answer, hoping Saeko doesn't hear the emotions in my voice. "Hmm." Saeko says, her face was half obscured in the dark, but I could've sworn she was looking at me. She must've known I was thinking of her, so what must she think of me.

I look back over to where she stood, only to see a blank empty space. Quickly after looking around to see if she moved somewhere else, the soft thumps of something heavy, resounded from around the corner. Smiling, I knew that meant that their death had already been dealt by the samurai. Shouldering the shotgun, I walk around the corner to see her standing there, among the dismembered heads and bodies of what used to be **Them. **

"Good job, Saeko." I quietly say to her as I step over the remains to get to where she is. "Of course," She said to me with that smile of hers. I could see in her eyes that she enjoyed what just transpired, but she seemed slightly different. Happier but in a different way, as though now she killed for a different purpose.

_**She killed for you.**_

What the hell? Where did that voice come from? Looking around, I couldn't see any possible source the voice could come from.

_**Because she knows you will kill for her.**_

There it was again. A voice that was not my own, speaking loud and clear in my head. _I must be imagining things. _Looking up at the sky I take a deep breath to clear my head. "Takashi, you ok?" I hear Saeko whisper from the darkness. "Yea, I'm fine, I'll be right there." After one last look around the abandoned side yard, I turn towards where Saeko was and begin to catch up with her.

***Back at the Humvee***

**19:55**

**Rei**

It had been about 10 minutes since Saeko and Takashi left the car to go explore the building, and already I was worried about them. _I should have gone with them; I should've just ignored that bitch Saeko and joined them. _

But as much as I hated to admit it, Saeko had a point. Two people for scouting is perfect but three's a crowd. Despite the fact that I'm excellent at close combat, the only weapon I have right now is the Ak-47 left over from Rita's house. Which in these close quarters and its loud noise, would just spell trouble for the group.

Sitting down in the front seat, I looked out at the road in front of us, which thankfully, showed no signs of **Them. **_Hmm, I wonder where they all went? _Turning around I look in the back seat at Saya. "Hey Saya, I have a question. Why do you think none of **Them **are around this area?" I asked.

Saya appeared to think about it for a bit before finally answering me. "Well there are a couple of theories. The most obvious theory is that there's no more people around here anymore. Or if there are survivors, they learned to keep their mouths shut." Despite grimacing at the harsh words, there was truth in what she said.

"The second theory is just a possibility. Those things appear to need no sustenance, just their primal urge to feed. Therefore, it could make sense that they simply left because they ran out of "food"" Saya finished. "Ok, eww, didn't need that visual, thanks a lot Saya." I growl at her. Looking over at Alice, I breath a sigh in relief that she remained asleep during their conversation.

"Everyone, get down now and stay quiet." Kohta says all of a sudden, his head half outside the cab. "What is it?" Saya whispers, clearly scared. "It's survivors, but they don't look nice." Kohta whispered back.

I peek over the backseat in the direction that Kohta was looking. Sure enough, there were three older looking men walking down the street, still about a block away from them. "Can you get a closer look at them Kohta? Do they have any weapons or are they escaping something?" Saya whispered up to him.

Kohta, instead of answering, raised his rifle and looked down the scope. After a few seconds he holstered the rifle, worry clearly written on his face. "They aren't majorly armed, looks like just standard pistols." "Then why do you seem worried?" Saya replied. Kohta looked down at the rest of us. "Because the middle one was on a walkie-talkie with someone." He glances around at the buildings around us, "Which means somewhere nearby there are more of them."

"Shit, what are going to do then? Saeko and Takashi are still inside the house!" I exclaim. "If we stay here, they are eventually going to notice us." Saya said. "Ok, so here's what we do then. There is a mini mart two blocks down the street from here." Ok I'll go join Saeko and Takashi and meet you guys there." I say to the group as I retrieve my weapon from the back.

Lifting my rifle up, I reattached the bayonet onto the muzzle. "I'll meet up with you guys with Saeko and Takashi." Without letting them answer I quickly hop out the car, closing the door as softly as I could. I keep my eyes on the guys as I creep towards the fence. Luckily, they haven't seen me yet or heard the car. Good.

I knew Saya wouldn't let Shizuka leave until I was fully out of view of the other group. The moment they start up the car it will immediately draw attention. Arriving at the fence, I find a groove in the fence allowing me to lift myself up. I jump down, but mistook the height and landed a lot louder than I planned.

"What was that?" I hear a voice down the block say not so quietly. "Shh, keep yo.." The voice fading too quiet for me to hear. _Fuck, they heard me. _

Going as quickly as I can while being quiet, I approach the left side of the house. _They went this way, right? _ I wrap around the corner as the sounds from the street were getting louder. I knew I had to move, but I was curious about who these people were." I think it came from this house" The voice was male, maybe late 20s. "You sure?" another voice said, another male. This one sounded much younger, barely hitting puberty.

Not trying to let myself get distracted, I turn around and one of **Them **appear all of a sudden in front of me. It was and older man, mid-40s, wearing a gi and something strapped to his back. "Eek!" I squeak out loud, lifting my weapon in front of me in an attempt to block the man.

Knocking up his arms, I push forward, making him stumble back. A dull glint catches my eyes, looking down I see the sharp blade of the bayonet reflecting what little light the moon provided. Forgetting all about the weapon I had in my hands, I flip my rifle over and slash upwards, the blade burrowing in its neck, blood showering on me from the impact.

"awrrrh" The thing garbled, its vocal cords being half severed. I reposition my legs and drop down, swinging the rifle with the momentum. The blade being firmly impaled in the neck, brought his entire body swinging down with the force, his body slamming down into the ground with a big thump.

"What was that" The younger voice said from the street. "Let's check it out, Ronnie you, stay here." This voice was older than the others, much more mature. Shortly after he spoke, I heard two thuds land in the yard. _Fuck Fuck Fuck! _Turning around towards the back of the house I desperately try to keep quiet as I creep around the house.

*Snap* the noise pierced through the silence, I look down at the twig, clean split into two pieces beneath my foot. I turn around and stare at an old man maybe in his mid-50s. he was unshaven, but cleanly dressed, his button-down shirt, neatly tucked in his pants, was a stark contrast to the current world. "Come here little girl, I won't hurt you." What he said was kind words, but his voice was cold and bitter.

"St-stand back, I have a gun." I shakily raise my gun at him. Killing **Them **was easy, they were already dead. But to kill a living person? Could I really do that? Before I can think any more, strong hands wrap around my body, pinning my arms to my sides. "Stop fighting" The young voice spoke in my ear from behind.

I squirm as much as possible but refused to make noise, noise would only attract more of** Them. **Hoping that Takashi or Saeko would hear the commotion, I continue to wriggle within the man's arms, but to no avail. He was clearly older than me and much stronger.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The older man says as he approaches me. His gaze was that of hunger and it scared me. "Strip her" He says to the guy behind him, who must've been Ronnie from the street. Ronnie couldn't have been more than 14 years old, and also looked slightly familiar.

"Do I have to dad?" The boy says to the father, clearly uncomfortable with his fathers commands. "Yes Ronnie" He then directs his attention to me, walking towards me. "My boy here you see is still a virgin, and no way in hell am I gonna let him die without him being balls deep in some ass. So keep your mouth shut or we can make this a lot worse for you" He finishes speaking as he puts his hand around my neck grabbing the top of my blouse and ripping it down, tearing the blouse in half.

The frilly green laces of my bra were a stark contrast to the white remains of my blouse. "Ah look at these precious tits Ronnie! You ever seen something so wonderful" The man cackles, as he rips my bra down, my breast spilling over into the open air. He roughly grabs my breast, as he pushes and pulls on it viciously, my nipples screaming in pain.

"Here Andy! Come on over and show Ronnie how it's done." The old man says to the older boy. Andy didn't even hesitate as he grabs me from the old man and pins me against the wall of the house. "Well hello there lovely, and what kind of underwear might we be wearing this fine day." The boy said to, his voice filled with sexual malice.

Grabbing my skirt, he rips it down harshly, exposing my black laced panties and almost ripping the skirt in two. "Dad I don't know about this." Ronnie said, my body now cold, I steel myself and look at him. Staring into his eyes, I see that the older boy is enjoying this, and knew I was left with only one option. "SAEKOOOO! I yell as loud as I can into the air.

"Shut up bitch." His hand engulfing my mouth as he slams my head into the wall. I see black for a second before a throbbing ache starts pounding in the back of my head. "You are gonna regret you ever made a sound bitch!" He says angrily as he moves his hand back to my neck, gripping it to the point where I can barely breathe.

_No! this cant be happening! Please save me guys! _Tears start to flow from my eyes as I stand there whimpering, his fingers running over my breasts, the unwanted touch traveling down my body. Unable to move all I do is just stare, and try to block out my surroundings. _They will save me, they will save me, _the words repeating in my head, being the only reason to stay conscious.

Focusing on that thought gave me the strength to look up and whisper to him. "I have friends with me you know" I say to him with deadly calm. "And one of them is your death awaiting you"

**15 minutes ago – In the Humvee**

**19:55**

**Saya Takagi**

"Omg that, reckless girl" I shriek in frustration as Rei bolted out the door. "She must really love him" I mutter as I turn to look back at the guys walking down the street. There were three of them in total, the leader of the group being a clean dressed man, maybe mid-50s. Hmm clean dressed. This means that he didn't come from very far from his base, or very long for that matter. This must mean there must be a home base nearby with more of them. But where? We are in the middle of the suburbs, the only thing close by are gas stations and… mini marts.

"Fuck" I say out loud, my thoughts coming to a very big problem. "What's wrong Saya?" Kohta says to me. "There is a very likely chance that our meeting spot is these guys home base. This means we are going to have to go somewhere else." I say to the group. "or at the very least somewhere to hunker down and be able to hopefully intercept their path to the mini mart."

"Which do you think is best Takagi-san?" Shizuka said to me. "You can drop the formalities, and I think its best if we try to intercept them, at least until we know what we're dealing with." I answer her. "But first we got to get out of here, wait until they get to the house and then book it." I say sternly to the ditzy blonde.

It took the three men a couple of minutes till they were almost right behind the car, till suddenly the youngest one of them stopped and turned toward the doujou. Motioning the others over, he pointed at something beyond the fence. The two older men jumped over, leaving the young one behind. Shortly after though, the young one jumped over and disappeared over the fence.

"whew that was close" little Alice said with a sigh of relief. I nod my head in agreement No it wasn't close. That means they saw or heard Rei. I hope she's ok "Yea, you said it girl, hiding my thoughts and putting on a bright smile for the little girl.

"Alright let's go Shizuka. "I say turning towards the woman. She nods her head in agreement, and goes to turn on the car. "Shouldn't we stay though? There's no reason to leave now, they're gone." Kohta said looking at me, stopping Mrs. Shizuka. God he may be cute but man is he dumb. "No fatty, Rei thinks we are on our way to the mini mart. So, assuming she meets up with Saeko and Takashi they will most likely head straight there, which would more than likely not result in them coming back out this way."

"Yeah your right." Kohta said sadly. Aww poor guy, did I really hurt his feelings? "Okay time to go!" Shizuka says cheerfully as she turns on the car. Pulling off I look behind me at the house fading away, I wonder if I made the right choice. Maybe I should've just listened to Kohta for once. "Well, there's nothing that can be done now" I say to myself as I sit back in the seat, hoping that they were ok.

**19:50**

**Saeko**

I loved the dark, for it made feel at home. Ever since I was a little kid, my eyes would adjust very quickly to low light. This allowed me to have near perfect night vision as long as there was any light. As I follow the house along the back yard, I was in one of those situations now.

The moon had been blocked by the house, resulting in the dim reflections of neighboring windows being the only source of a glow. Still it was enough for me to locate the sliding door on the back. Motioning to Takashi, I take up the opening side as he prepares to open the door.

Lifting my sword up I prepare for battle. Nodding my head, I signal to Takashi the open the door. He yanks sharply, the door almost flying open. All I saw was an empty darkness, and silence, like a graveyard. Reaching down I pick up a decent sized pebble and chuck it at the doorway. The rock clanged loudly in the still silence, but after a few bounces of the rock, the building again muted itself to the world.

"Looks clear." Takashi said. Hoisting his bat up, he takes a small step in the building. Then another, until finally he was swallowed up by the darkness. Turning around I keep my eyes around the back yard, as I slowly take steps backward before passing the threshold. Turning around, I give myself a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the new darkness.

After a while, I eventually started to make shapes out inside the building. Noticing a very distinctive shape, I walk over to confirm my suspicions. Sure enough, there on the wall was a real Katana. I unsheathe the blade to get a better look at the sword. I could tell it was meant for a male; the blade slightly thicker than mine. Perfect for cleaving something in two, but not so much with precision.

"Takashi, come over here." I whisper loudly to him. "What is it?" He walks over and finally makes out what I'm holding. "For me? You sure? I mean that's kind of your thing and all." He says sheepishly. "Look at me." I say firmly and as I raise my hand to caress the side of his face, I turn his face so our eyes met. "I want you have to have it Takashi." I say with a wicked smile on my face, heavily emphasizing his name. "uh-umm ok?" He stutters. Even the near black, I could see the beet red his face has become.

"This blade is better for a male anyway, here try it." I say to him as I had him the Katana. He takes it from my hand and unsheathes the blade. Even in the darkness, the blade still shone, as though a light emanated from it. _Hmph, it's only fitting that we found this blade. _"You sure you don't want it?" Takashi asked one last time. I nod my head no. "No, I believe it already found its rightful owner." Takashi lloks down at the sword again and lifts it up in the air.

I immediately I see his grip is wrong. "No, no hold it like this." Walking over I grasp his fingers and delicately adjust his grip. His hands felt soft in mine, comforting. Clearing my head, I turn my face and look at him, his body mere inches from mine. "You hold it like this okay?" I say gently to him. "Uh-huh" He says goofily, clearly distracted by our close proximity.

Before I can think twice, I lean forward and kiss him, his lips instead of being rigid, molded with mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and pressed harder, exploring with my tongue as our lips melded as one. He drops the Katana and pulls me into him, this time him being he one applying the pressure.

"SAEKOOOO!"

The voice piercing through the walls, was clearly loud enough to attract nearby **Them. "**What the fuck was that?!" Takashi said, our once entangled bodies now separated. "Recognizing the voice, I unsheathe my blade and run towards the door. "That was Rei! We got to hurry, grab the sword." I shout at Takashi. Leaping through the open door, I turn to the left where Rei's voice had come from. As I go around the corner I come to a quick stop as I take in what's in front of me.

Three men were there, a younger man that had Rei's throat by his hands, her desperately struggling to get out of his grip but to no effort. Across from him was an older man and a teenage boy. The young boy seemed very uncomfortable about what was going on, but the older one seemed to enjoy it, his body radiating with a type of darkness. "Sae..!" I Abruptly cut off Takashi as he catches up with me around the corner. Luckily, the three men didn't hear his voice.

"Shh be quiet, we are still in the darkness so they won't see us. Just be quiet." Suddenly Rei whimpers out, and I look up to see the younger man ripping his skirt down. Immediately flashbacks of that night in the alley come flooding in. My eyes went red. _Never again. _"Stay here." I say to Takashi, my voice a cold steel. He knew it too, for he didn't say a word and instead took up a defensive position from the back.

I stalk forwards towards the men ,a wolf stalking the clueless sheep. My mind goes blank as the stillness comes. My body floated, as though I was as light as feather. Every part of her being, was at her call and beckon, barely a thought required. I barely register Rei saying something, as the man fumbles with his pants, he pulls out his lengthy appendage, which was hard and sticking straight out. _Perfect _

Now only 6 feet from the oblivious males, I take a deep breath, and unleash hell. Twirling my blade up, I slice straight down, cutting clean through his arm at the elbow. The man watches as his forearm drops to ground, landing with a meaty thump. His arm gushes blood, splattering Rei's half naked body with blood, "Ahh!" She screamed, as half her face gets splattered with blood. The men stare in shock, rooted in their spots unable to move, and that paralysis cost them.

Twisting around I slice again downward, this time slicing his erect appendage clean off. This time the man does react "WHAT THE FUCK! YOU CRAZY BITCH" the man shouts at the top of his longs. "Shut up pig" I retort back. Pirouetting a twirl, I swing the blade around my head and slash.

The older man and younger boy stare at me in horror. I turn towards the older man, my face blank, blood covering my faced as it dripped down towards my neck, I know what I looked like. I was their Death in front of them. *Thunk* The mans decapitated head finally fell to the ground, as the earth beneath him greedily soaked up the blood.

I twist my wrist in a flicking motion, the blood from the blade flying off, leaving the metal perfectly clean. "Takashi!" Rei exclaimed, as Takashi came running up. Rei jumped into his arms and started sobbing, "Oh Takashi thank you so much." Looking up at me "And thank you Saeko, thank you so much. "

Seeing her in Takashi arms look so defenseless, and Takashi's loving eyes towards her changed something in me, Takashi will always be my light, but Rei, I wanted to protect Rei because Takashi loved her too. And that was ok. I can share. _But Takashi will always be my Darling._

A.N.

Hey guys! Hope you like the chapter. I told you we would be taking a darker path, but do not worry! There will also be smiles and laughs. Maybe. The chapter was originally gonna be longer but I felt like this was a good stopping point, im thinking of playing around with other characters and would love to hear your feedback on the introduction of the new characters.

As always please Read and Review. See you soon!


	3. A Light in the Dark Part 2

I just want to say first, after re reading my last chapter I realized I made an ungodly amount of typos and plotholes. I truly apologize for that and will make sure to be more thorough with my grammar in the future.

**Act 3: The Angels of Death. A Light in the Dark Part 2**

**Side of the Doujou**

**20:10**

Rei had finally got her sobbing under control after what felt like forever, her body steadily beginning to calm down, as Takashi murmurs calm words to her. Saeko takes a long look at the horrible conditions Rei was in, and turned back towards the two men.

"We should kill them as well" Saeko says calmly. "Hold on Saeko." Takashi answers, stopping Saeko in her tracks. "Rei, are you okay to stand?" Takashi asked Rei gently. Rei nods her head meekly, and leans on Takashi as she gets up on her feet.

Her clothes were in pieces, the skirt being the only article of clothing left mostly intact. Her shirt was in shreds, and her once green bra was now stained brown with blood. The rest of her body seemed unscathed, which was a blessing in itself. Saeko looks around and sees a body of one of **Them **on the ground towards the front of the house. The fallen body was wearing a Gi, with two weird contraptions wrapped around his waist. The man's head was hanging off by the neck, as though something had severed the front half, completely ripping his throat out. Saeko pointed her blade at the younger boy.

"You. Go grab those clothes now." Pointing in the direction of the body. "If you think about running, we will kill you where you stand." Her voice left no room for argument. The boy nodded his head in acknowledgement and quickly ran over to the body. After struggling for a little bit to undress the body, he finally undid the Gi on the man. The two weird contraptions fell to the ground with a soft thud. "Bring those too boy." Saeko ordered.

Nodding his head vigorously, he scooped up the two items and ran back over to the others. Handing Saeko the outfit, he carefully stepped back to the older man. Saeko examined the weird contraptions. "Oh wow, these are a pair of Sai." Saeko walks over to Rei and hands her the Gi. "Here put this on, this way you at least have something to cover you." "Thank you." Rei said quietly, as she reached out, grabbing the Gi from Saeko's hands. Once Rei was finished getting dressed, Saeko handed her the Sais. "Do you know what these are?" She asked Rei.

"Yes, they are a close combat weapon called a Sai, why?" Rei asked in response. "I want you to have it, since Takashi and I both have blades now, it's only fair that you should have your own. Plus, since you excel in martial arts, it's very easy to incorporate the Sais in your attacks."

Rei looked at Takashi with widened eyes. "You have a blade too?" She asked in awe. "Yea, we found one inside the building. Saeko says it was crafted for a male, so it's perfect for me." Takashi says, as he unsheathes the blade for Rei to see. "It feels…. Almost natural. But I agree with Saeko, those Sai are perfect for you." He says to her with a smile.

"Anyways, what are we to do with these two." Saeko said to the others, pointing at the two men in front of her. Takashi supports Rei as she gets up, and they both walk to Saeko to take a look at the men. Takashi, now getting an actually good look at the two men, thought one of them looked familiar. Looking closer at the younger boy, Takashi struggles to remember where he knew the boy from. "Hey aren't you from Fujimi Academy?"

The boy freezes in fear, his eyes widening. "ye-yes" He finally stutters out. "You know this boy Takashi?" Saeko said, turning her head towards him, but keeping her eyes on the two men in front of her. "Yea, well, kind of. He went to our high school; I remember that much." He answered. "So that once again brings us to the question; What do we do with them?" Saeko retorted.

Rei stepped forward, "Leave the young one alone, he didn't want any part in what happened to me." She says with a sniffle, "But him!" She says angrily, jabbing her finger at the older man. "He encouraged it, he wanted it, you fucking animal!" "Rei, Rei calm down, not to loud, we already attracted enough attention as it is." Takashi said as he desperately tried to comfort the girl. "Very well then, his fate shall be sealed, but I won't make it quick." Saeko said coldly.

In the distance, faint moans started to reach the groups ears. "**They **heard us; they are coming." Saeko says to the group. Walking over to where the decapitated man's body lay, Saeko undid the belt around the man's pants. Once undone, she walks over to the older man grabbing his arms roughly and starts wrapping the belt around them.

"What, what are you doing?" He whimpers. "You seem to enjoy taking advantage of a helpless girl, so let's see how you like being the helpless one." Saeko answers back coldly to him. The man, now bound at his wrists, starts crying, pleading for mercy. Ignoring his pleas, Saeko turns to the younger boy. "And what should we do with this one Takashi?" She asked her leader. "It's up to you Rei, we can either bring him with us or leave him here." Takashi said, looking at Rei.

Both Saeko and Takashi looked at Rei as she struggled to make a decision, *thunk* The groups heads turn towards the sound, which had come from the front yard. *thunkthunk* *thunkthunkthunkthunk* The banging slowly getting louder. "Fuck, **They** are already here! What about Saya and the others?!" Takashi exclaims. "That's why I'm here in the first place, I came to tell you guys that they had to leave because of these men. We are supposed to meet the others at the mini-mart down the street"

Ronnie's eyes widened after hearing those words, a detail not gone unnoticed by Saeko. "ok well then, guess this one is coming with us." Saeko says, walking over and grabbing the boy by his collar. Putting her face into his, she says to him very calmly, "Now here is what's going to happen. You are going to listen to everything we have to say. You will go where we tell you, and you will shut up when we tell you. Is that understood?" A big smile on her face as she finished talking. The boy shakily nods his head.

"What about me?" The older man sobs, as he pleads to the group. Takashi steps forward towards the man, and draws his blade. Pushing the man over he thrusts the blade through the lower leg, slicing through the calf muscles like butter, as the tip of the blade penetrated the earth. "AHHHH!" The man screamed in pain. Rei took a step back, gasping as she covers her hand with her mouth. Her eyes trembling at the sight that was in front of her. Saeko looked at Takashi as an unseen smile crept on his face. Takashi looked up at Saeko and an unspoken conversation was being conveyed through their gaze. It was though Saeko understood why Takashi did what he did, and while Rei at this time was clearly in shock, she too, would eventually understand, hopefully.

What Saeko's line of thinking, was roughly the same as Takashi's. Takashi didn't just brutally attack the man for Rei's sake, he did it for the groups, and… maybe his own.

Without even seeing the front, Takashi knew there would be a swarm of **Them **there**. **Judging by the creaking now being heard between the moans, it wasn't long till the gate broke. The group needed a distraction, and this disgrace of a human, currently squealing and crying like a pig, was the perfect bait.

"Come on Ronnie, lets move it." Saeko says, as she pushes the boy towards the back of the house. *BANG* The ground tremored with the force of what the group presumed was the gate falling down. "We got to go, now!" Takashi orders, leading the group running towards the back. "Wait… Don't leave meee!" The man cries out, pulling himself along the earth towards the group.

Keeping her grip on the boy Saeko and the others arrive at the back wall. Unlike the front, this was a picket fence. A playground structure lay on the other side, behind it the neighboring street. "Ok, Takashi then Rei." Saeko says, her sword drawn as she watches their back. Takashi jumps over the fence with his blade strapped firmly on his back with the gun.

"Ok its all clear, Rei come on over." Takashi says quietly from the other side. Rei tightens the belt holding her Gi in place. She leaps over, the Gi lifting slightly, resulting in the exposing of her panties as she was in right in front of Ronnie. "Don't even think about it, little boy." Saeko said, her eyes still not leaving the side of the yard.

They needed to hurry now, the horde of **Them **were slowly approaching, their shuffling sounds filling up the void that was once silence. Saeko was now able to see **Them** almost at the crippled man, what looked like endless sea slowly filling up the side yard. "Okay go over, now." Saeko ordered Ronnie, "But what about my Dad?" He asked tears in his eyes, despite asking the question, it was clear the boy knew all too well what fate his father was about to meet. "I said move it." Saeko repeated, refusing to answer the boy's question. "But." "WHAT DID I SAY!" Saeko yelled in the kids face.

Ronnie took a step back as Saeko's blue eyes turned into liquid silver. You could feel the rage beginning to emanate from the samurai. All of a sudden, a person was standing between the two of them, blocking the girl from Ronnie's view. It was Takashi. "Ronnie go over, now." He says firmly to the boy, Ronnie took another step back. This time, he could've sworn the boy's eyes flashed the same silver as the girls. Deciding not to argue with whatever these two people were, Ronnie took one last look at his father, before jumping over the picket fence where Rei was waiting for him, her Sais at the ready in case he tried anything.

"Saeko, look at me." said gently. "We are going to be ok, but I need you to focus for me ok?" He rubbed her face with his palm, the girl leaned into his touch, "I need to let it out." She mumbles so low that only he can hear her. The boy nods at her words, "I understand that, I can feel it too now. They look into each other's silver eyes for a second, before her once burning silver eyes start to dull as she closes them. A second passes before she reopens her eyes, to their normal clear blue. "That's better, you ok?" The girl nods and wipes her face. She looks back up at Takashi's face. "Go I'll watch the rear." She said to him.

Takashi acknowledged her and jumped over the fence, right as the screaming started. Saeko watched in wonder as the man was swarmed onto, his bloody screams only encouraging the animals eating away at him. Staring at the man, Saeko soaked up the man's bloodied screams. The agony that the man was in, dulling that blade in her gut. After a few seconds she finally turned away and jumped over the fence, joining the rest of the group.

***Saya's Group in the Humvee***

**21:00**

Almost an hour had passed since the group had to leave the house, and tensions were starting to get high. According to Saya, the most logical place for them to travel on their way to the mini mart, would be Franklin Ave, the street they were currently parked on. The once lively avenue, filled with noise, bright lights and laughter, was now lined with shuttered stores and dark houses. Streaks of blood spattered the sides of the walls, and every couple of feet a mutilated body would be sprawled in the street.

Saya was in the backseat, trying to come up with strategies for when they met up with Takashi. They knew where they were going, but there were too many unknown variables in play. Was the mini mart those men's hideout? If so, how many are there? Are they armed? Are they peaceful or are they violent? These thoughts spun inside of Saya's head as she stared blankly down the street at the general direction of where Takashi and the others should be coming from.

"You think they are ok?" Shizuka said to Saya quietly, being careful not to disturb the little girl sleeping in the back seat. "Yea they should be fine, Takashi has Saeko and Rei with him, He'll be fine." Shizuka gave a small giggle. "What?" Saya asked. "Oh, nothing." Shizuka said with a smile. "You just seem very concerned for Takashi in particular." Saya's face went red. "Yea well, I've known him for a very long time, ok!" Saya said, almost too forcefully.

Kohta sticks his head down in the cab, having been sitting on the roof keeping a lookout. "What are you two arguing about?" He says quizzically. "Nothing!" Saya shouts, almost too loudly. "Umm, ok." Kohta said, confusion clearly written on his face. "Anyways make sure you keep a look out! They should be here soon." said Saya.

_Please be ok guys, we need you. _Saya thought to herself, as she took one more worrying look out the window, only to see something in the distance down the street. "Hey Kohta, what's that?" Saya asked, her face pressed against the glass, trying to get a better look. "Hold on, let me check." He said, raising his sniper rifle up, he peers down the scope towards the end of the street.

"It's Takashi and the others!" Kohta exclaimed happily. "and… there's another guy too. It looks like one of the men we ran into at the house." "Seriously?" Saya said shocked. "Yea but it looks like he's with them by force, Saeko is right next to him."

"Hmm interesting, ok Shizuka, lets go pick them up." Saya says cheerfully. _Thank god you guys are ok. _Saya thought to herself. "Aye Aye ma'am!" Shizuka said with a giggle. Turning the car on, she swings the wheel around, pivoting the car, and begins speeding towards the group. As the car gets closer, Saya and the others can see why they are running so hard. There is a small group of **Them **about 100 yards behind them. "Alice get in the trunk now!" Saya ordered, making room in the back seat for the group of four.

Saya hops over the center console and slips into the passenger seat. The car skids to the side, Shizuka having banked the car so it was adjacent to the street. "Get in NOW!" Saya yells at the group. Takashi runs up and opens the back door, "Rei you go" Rei hops in and slides to the far side. "Ronnie your up." The kid that was with them, doesn't argue and immediately joins Rei in the backseat, where Rei has a funny looking weapon resting on his neck. "Saeko your next, leave them be, let's go."

The voice that Takashi used to order Saeko was different, Saya realized. This voice almost had a source of energy that poured into his words. Saeko looked like she was going to argue, her mouth half open, when after Takashi spoke, she immediately closed her mouth, and hopped into the car. Shutting the back door, Takashi jumps up on the side of the car, and hoists himself up next to Kohta. "Good to see you buddy" Kohta says with a big smile on his face as he playfully punches Takashi's shoulder.

Takashi smiles back and taps the hood of the car twice, "Ok Shizuka find somewhere safe to pull over for a while we need to regroup and come with a plan." "Where should I go?" Shizuka asks. Looking around Takashi sees a parking garage, one street over. "Park in that garage for now, go to the top floor" He says to her. "Okay!"

Now that he was no longer running Takashi took this brief chance to lay down and relax. "Hey wake up sleepy head." Rei's voice pierced through Takashi's dreams as he woke up, not realizing he dozed off. "Where are we?" He asked Rei. "We are at the parking garage. We should stay here till the morning." Rei said to him. Takashi nodded in agreement. It as already late and the group needed their sleep. "I'll take first watch." Saeko said, as she hopped out of the car. "You are sleeping here." She said to Ronnie, pointing at an area next to where she was standing watch. "Umm, ok" The boy said, not daring to meet Saeko's eyes.

"Ok, everyone. Get some rest. We'll make our plans tomorrow." Takashi addressed the group. Mumbles of agreement murmured from the car, as the girls got themselves comfortable inside the car. Takashi laid down next to Kohta, the boys sleeping on the roof to give the girls room. Within minutes everyone was soundly asleep except for Saeko, who stood at the guard rail, staring into the night as she stood watch.

**The next morning **

**7:30**

"Wakey wakey guys, time to have some breakfast. It's good for you ya know!" Shizuka's cheerful voice woke the group up, as she started handing out granola bars left over from Takagi's house. "I'll take one Auntie Shizuka!" Little Alice asked her. The group laughed a little at the little child's innocence, not realizing that later that day that childish naivety, will be gone.

Takashi looked at Saeko, who was still standing watch. Stretching his arms and legs out, Takashi shakes his head to wake himself up and jumps off the car. Walking over to Saeko, he went to check up on her. "Hey, have you been keeping watch all night?" He said worryingly. "Maybe" She said staring out into space, before turning to give him a smile. "Listen eat some food then sleep. We will fill you on the plan when you wake up. Ok?" He said firmly to Saeko. She gives him that smile of hers, with one lip curled higher than the other. She leans forward so her head rests on his shoulder. "Is that an order, my leader?" she whispers in his ear. You can audibly hear Takashi take a gulp. "If that's what it takes, then yes." Takashi said firmly. "See, that wasn't so hard was it." As she strokes the bottom of his chin with her fingers, and walks off to grab some food. _God she's crazy. _Takashi thought to himself. A big smile creeps along his face. _And I love it. _

After eating their meager meal of a breakfast, the group sat down in a circle on the garage floor, and prepared to discuss their next move.

"So Saya tell us what your thoughts were regarding this mini-mart." Takashi says to her, to start things off. "Well if I'm right… which I usually am." She says slyly "The mini mart two blocks over, is his group's headquarters." She says, pointing at Ronnie. The group turns and looks at Ronnie, who is fidgeting in his spot. "Ronnie, is that where your group came from?" Takashi asks, firmly, but gently.

Ronnie nods his head yes, refusing to talk. "How many of you are there?" Kohta asks. The boy doesn't say anything or move. "Are their people there now?" Rei asks gently. He slowly shakes his head yes. "Are they friendly?" Shizuka asks. The boy shrugs his shoulders. Then Takashi grabs his shoulders, "If they see us, will they shoot us on sight." He says coldly to Ronnie. It wasn't a question, more a statement for confirmation. Ronnie looked at him a long time before his lips slightly parted. "Most-Most likely yes." He says shakily.

"How are we going to get the upper hand then?" Kohta whines. Saya takes a moment to look at Alice, thoughts turning in her head. "What about a child?" Saya says all of a sudden. The statement through everyone by surprise. "What do you mean Saya?" Shizuka asked. "Just answer the question Ronnie." Ronnie look stumped for a bit, then finally responded. "I guess, I guess not, esp... especially a female child. "The underlying message cut through the group as they slowly understood what that meant. Saya, now having no remorse about her plan tells the others, exactly how they are going to get the upper hand.

Two hours later, when everything was ready the group set out to the mini mart. "Ok Shizuka, when we get about a block away, they are going to hear the Humvee, so once we are close enough, cut off the engine. ""Ok!" Shizuka said in a somber voice. She did not like this plan, did not like it at all, but Alice agreed. The poor girl. She said she wanted to finally help out the group and this was one of the only ways she could. Oh, bless her sweet heart. I hope she's going be ok.

In the back Kohta was giving Alice last minute instructions, "Mhm that means this and this means that. Got it Brother Kohta!" Kohta smiles at here. "And remember no matter what, I won't let anything happen to you ok?" "Okai!" Alice says with a big smile. The car began to slow down, the group getting closer to their destination. "Ok it's game time." Takashi says. The Group jumps out of the car, each person going to their assigned tasks.

***Somewhere unknown***

Two men were sitting on the roof of a building, enjoying one of the few cigarettes left in the world. One of the men was casually leaning in a lawn chair, overlooking the deserted street in front of him, a sniper rifle resting up against the barrier. The man was in his early 20's, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was stocky and well built, most likely played some kind of contact sport during high school.

His friend behind him was the exact opposite. The man was in his late 40s but was as thin as a pole. He was currently fiddling with some sort of transmitter, muttering angrily to himself. "Hey, everything ok Walter?" The younger boy asked, taking a deep pull of his cigarette. "You know cursing at the thing won't make them answer." He says with a smile.

"Well what do you suggest mister smartass?" Walter grumbles. "Relax its barely been 12 hours I'm sure Andy and his Pops are fine." The younger boy said, clearly annoyed at the older man. "Yea but he last reported last night, that he thought he heard a vehicle." Walter whined back. "Well if that's the case then a couple of half scared survivors shouldn't be much of a challenge for them, they brought their guns with them after all."

"Besides, Benny and the others will be back from their raid soon. Maybe they will bring back some goodies with them." The younger man cackles, as he puts out the butt of the cigarette, stamping it with his foot. Suddenly a low droning sound could be heard from the distance. "What the fuck is that." The younger man said, looking around trying to pinpoint the noise. "I don't know, but it sounds like a vehicle." Walter said to him, also looking around. "You think it's the same one that Andy called about?" Walter asked. "Who knows." The younger boy muttered, trying to figure out what the sound was. Shortly after the two finished speaking the droning stopped, and a silence once again filled the area.

"Huh that was weird." The young man muttered. Walking over to the device Walter was messing with, the man grabbed a microphone device and pressed a button on the machine. "Hey Benny, you there come in." A few seconds of silence was interrupted by a brief crackle, before another mans voice emanated from the machine. "Benny here, everything ok?" "Yea everything's fine, listen you're not near the base, are you? We thought we heard a vehicle." The man answered. "Nah, we still about 10 miles out, should be there by tonight. Just keep your eyes peeled and wait for us you got it?" The voice made it clear that it was an order to the younger man.

"Got it boss. Over and out." The young man said, before hanging up the receiver. "Well whatever it is. It's gone now." He said to Walter. The man fished into his pocket for something, and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. Putting a cigarette in his mouth, he takes out a lighter and lights it, taking a deep pull before speaking again. "Anyways, when do you think we are gonna go to that ma…" The man stops short as something on the street catches his eye.

"Hey what's that? That one of **Them?" **the younger man says, pointing at a figure down the street. "I don't know let me look." Walter says. Walking to the edge of the roof, he grabs the sniper rifle, and puts the butt to his shoulder, eyes aiming down the sight. "It's… It's a little girl! And it looks like she has a dog with her. Wait… That's Ronnie! He's with the girl!" Walter says, not believing his eyes. "A little girl? What the hell is a little girl doing with Ronnie?"

"What should we do? And where's Andy and their Dad? Why aren't they with him?" The younger man asked. The older, skinny man got a weird look in his eyes. "Well we should make sure they are ok, now shouldn't we? Especially the little girl. She must be so scared." Walter said to the younger man. The younger man didn't like the way the older man spoke, but was in no position to argue. "Ok let's go out there and greet them. "

Heading downstairs, the two men removed the various items that barricaded the main entrance. Since the rest of their group was out, it was just the two of them left, guarding the mini mart. The younger man picked up a big bat, studded with the nails, and hefted it over as shoulder as he walked out. Walter hung up the sniper rifle, and grabbed an assault rifle instead that was laying on a nearby table. Strapping the gun over his shoulder, Walter and the younger man walked down the street a little bit to meet up with the two figures walking down the street.

They got about 100 yards before they got close enough to be almost face to face with the two. The younger man felt something was off, but he didn't know what. "What the hell Ronnie?! Why you with this little girl? And where the hell is your Pops and Andy!" Walter shouted at the boy.

"He's not allowed to speak." The little girl said sweetly. The two men were taken aback at her words. "Where is everybody? Is it just you two?" She asked innocently? The younger man really felt something weird was going on now. How the hell did this girl survive in this world all by herself?

"Well why don't you come inside, and we can get to know each other better?" The old man said kindly to the little girl, but his eyes did not match his words. "No thank you. Anyways I'll just cut to the chase. But first things first" She says and then puts on a big happy face. In the most childish and sweet voice the young man had ever heard, the little girl said "You touch me, you die."

So, what you guys think of this style? Do you want me to change it back? Or keep it is as is? Your thoughts and reviews as always are greatly appreciated!

P.S. As I start coming closer to the mall point of my story, there will be certain… erotic scenes, just a heads up!


	4. Awakened

Hey guys sorry for the long break things have been crazy. I put a few lemons in here so lets see who can find them! Also we are gonna follow the manga a little bit as far as using some of the characters there etc etc. Anyway without further ado I hope that if you are reading this you are safe and healthy.

**Outside the Mini Mart**

** "**Hahaha, aren't you an adorable little one." Walter said to the small girl, chuckling nervously. "Hey, Ronnie, where did you find this girl?" Walter said to the boy. "He's not allowed to speak." The little girl said to Walter flatly. "Now f you would, please drop your weapons." She said in serious tone. "Oh yea? And what happens if we don't?" Walter said sarcastically back to the girl. "Well if that's the case, then we will have to resort to violence." She replied.

"We?" The blonde guy said under his breath. His eyes shifted around, looking at the surroundings. He couldn't see anybody, but based off those girls' words, there was no doubt that somebody was watching them. They shouldn't take any chances. "C'mon Walter, do what the girl says. Something isn't right." He said to the older man, as he starts to holster his weapon. "Are you fucking crazy man? There's no way I'm going to be intimidated by a little girl." The older man yells and whips out his pistol aiming it straight at the little girl's head. "Let's see how you like being threatened." He snarled at the girl.

Before Walters friend could even utter a word to stop him, or calm him down, *Plip* A small echo rang out. Walter stood there for a second, "Hey Walter you ok?" The blonde guy asked him. Suddenly without warning, Walter collapsed to the floor. A bloody welt was in the center of the back of his head, streaking crimson red rivers to the ground.

"What the fuck" The blonde man said, taking a step back from the little girl. "He shouldn't have done that; my friends are very protective." The little girl said quietly. "Now, will you please put your weapons down so we can talk?" The girl said to the blonde man. Wordlessly, the man unholstered his weapon and slowly lowered it to the ground. The girl said something to Ronnie, who then walked over and patted the man down, ensuring he had no more weapons.

Once double checking the man was unarmed, the girl waved her hand three times. All of a sudden, an engine sound came roaring to life down the street. A Humvee came speeding around the corner and drove towards the group. On the top of the Humvee there was a kid with glasses holding a sniper rifle, seeming to come out halfway through the car. Standing on the roof next to him was a boy and girl, both brandishing swords.

_What the hell is this?! _The man thought to himself, _they're just teenagers! _Indeed, as the car pulled up, it was clear that it was a group of teenagers, five of the them coming out of the car. The driver was a busty blonde, and the only adult in the group, so it was assumed that she was to be their leader. But the way the group seemed to look towards the boy holding the sword, it was as if there was an air of respect towards him.

The boy walked up to the man and looked him up and down. "What's your name?" The boy asked flatly. "Jake." The blonde man said to him, finally identifying himself. "Well Jake, I'm gonna make this really simple for you. Is there anyone else here?" Jake shook his head no." n-no" He said shakily, there was something about that kid that scared the crap out of him.

Looking into the kid's eyes, he saw nothing, only cold calculating eyes swirling with hints of silver. No wonder he was their leader, whoever this guy was, he radiated dominance. "Saeko and Rei, go inside to make sure it's clear. Kohta and Saya, you guys go check the perimeter, see if you can find any good vantage points." Turning back to Jake, "Does this place have a garage nearby?" he asked. "Yea around the corner, it's an enclosed parking space."

The kid turns towards the older blonde lady "Shizuka take Alice with you and park there, wait we till we come get you." The lady nods her head and helps the little girl into the Humvee. They soon drive off towards the back of the mini-mart, hiding it from the street.

"So, Ronnie here is one of yours huh?" The boy says, casually walking around the 2 outsiders. "Yea he joined up with me about two weeks ago." Jake said nervously. "Hmm interesting." The boy seemed to ponder that a bit, when Jake noticed a small group of zombies shuffling towards them. The sound of the car engine must have attracted them. "Uhh, sorry to interrupt, but we got company." "Hmm?" The young man asks confused. He turned around and realized what the man was talking about. "Oh. Eh. Hey Saeko!" The boy called out. The purple haired swordswoman came walking out of the mini-mart shortly after being called. "Yes Takashi?" The boy turned back to face the men and threw a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the zombies.

"Take care of that for me, will you?" He asked calmly, clearly not worried at all. Jake was stunned. There had to be at least 10 zombies there, and he was having the girl deal with it all by herself? The girl just smiled at the boy "Of course, anything for you" she said seductively, and started running towards the zombies. _This girls gotta be suicidal _Jake thought to himself.

As the girl got closer to the zombies, her carefree demeanor started to change. Her movements became more fluid, as she began walking with a feline grace. She then breaks into a sprint, heading straight towards the group of **Them **with her weapon drawn on her right side. As she was almost upon **Them**, she arced her sword up, slicing the man from the waist to the shoulder. Continuing her momentum, she completed the swing, slicing clean through the zombie's skull. With one rotation of a tumble backwards she launched herself forward again towards the horde, slicing through one mans stomach and finishing with a decapitation as she burst through the group. With two down now, Saeko was clearly reveling in the bloodlust. With numerous hacks and slashes, she quickly incapacitated two more of **Them**, before leaping back a safe distance from the horde.

"Save some for me Saeko!" another girls voice called out. Jake turned and saw a brown-haired girl this time, running out to meet the other girl. In her hands Jake noticed she was carrying steel instruments, almost as long as his forearm, though he couldn't figure out what they were. The girl ran straight towards the group, her arms stretched out like a bird. _Another crazy bitch?! _Jake thought to himself. The instruments in her hand were glowing dully in the light. Once she got closer, she launched herself in the air, pouncing down on top one of **Them**, her weapons buried in the zombie's eyes.

Flipping over into a somersault, she severs the leg of two zombies, their bodies tilting before falling to the floor. The brown hair girl rushes back in and stabs one of them in the skull, while Saeko impaled the other with her sword. Now that the two girls were in the center of the horde, they stood back to back with each other, but to Jakes surprise, they had big smiles on their faces. _Who the hell are these kids? _ In perfectly synced harmony, the two girls faced off against the remainders of the horde, twirling around each other. For every zombie that got slashed by Saeko's blades, Rei would follow up with a quick jab to the skull with her Sais.

Once the horde of **Them **were cleared the two girls casually walked over to Jake and the others, smiles plastered on their faces despite the fact they were covered in splattered blood. "You ladies have fun?" Takashi said to the girls. "Oh yes, really gets the blood pumping." Saeko said with a laugh, and the two girls giggled at another. "Ok, go find out Kohta's situation and report back. Rei take point at the entrance, we are gonna move our talk inside." Both girls acknowledged their orders as Saeko ran off to meet the rest of their group, Takashi led Jake and Ronnie towards the mini mart.

Once inside Takashi motioned for the other two men to take a seat, which they did hesitantly. The two boys at this point were more scared of the bloody girl standing watch at the door, then the boy directly in front of him "So where were we… Oh yes, where's the rest of your group?" Takashi asked Jake. Jake figured it would be useless to lie to this guy, something about him made Jake feel like he would know if he was lying or not. "A group of us went to go scout out a mall about 2 miles away."

"That must be the mall we saw on our way here" Saeko said as she walked inside the store. Taking a defensive position behind Takashi, she kept her eyes on the other two men as she continued. "Did they report back yet?" "No" Jake answered, "They said they would report back when they got here." "How long is that?" Takashi asked. "I don't know." Jake of course did know but didn't trust these kids. However, the look the samurai was giving him, made it clear she knew he was lying.

"Very well. We shall wait for them to return. Saeko keep an eye on them, I'm going to update the others and get them positioned for these guys friends return." Saeko nodded her head as Takashi left the store.

**Three Hours Later**

**1 AM**

It was pitch black as Takashi looked around, unaware of where he was. It appeared to be that he was on top of a mountain, for there were glowing lights of what he assumed was a city, twinkling far below where he was standing. After looking closer he realized that he wasn't actually standing on anything, instead, his body was somehow being suspended high up in the air. Beginning to freak out, Takashi started muttering to himself, "its just a dream, its just a dream."

"Well your partly correct." A voice said. It was clearly heard, but despite Takashi's frantic looking, the speaker could not be found. "My name is Erebus but who I am is not relevant. It has appeared my mother has taken a liking to your female compatriots, so I bestowed some of my gifts upon to you."

Takashi was stunned. He heard of Erebus briefly, only remembering he was a deity of death and darkness. Could this explain his actions lately? The increased bloodlust? And what female compatriots? He clearly was including Saeko, there was no doubt about that. But did that include Rei?...

*BANG*

Takashi jumped up to a loud noise, sounding almost like a car door. He had been sleeping in the breakroom for the night, the rest of the group was with him fast asleep. The other men Ronnie and Jake were to sleep in the bathroom, separated from the group. Looking over he noticed that Saeko was also sitting up, wide awake. She turned her head to look at him and both of them gasped when their eyes made contact. His eyes were like a molten brown, with silver veins stretching from his pupil. Her eyes were like liquid moonlight, a swirling silver mixed with a blue like the ocean, the deepness of it seemed to call to him. "Your eyes…" They both said in unison. Takashi jolted his head back? What? So, his eyes were the same, weird. Did it have something to do with that Erebus guy?

The others in their group were still fast asleep, as though nothing loud had happened, Rei, who was on guard standing by the door to the front of the mini mart, stood there silent, casually cleaning her fingernails. "You heard that right." Takashi whispers to Saeko. She nods her head in confirmation, and starts getting herself up. She walked over to the cupboard on the side and strapped on her katana. Rei looked at them but Takashi put his finger to his lips silencing her. Takashi got up and walked over to the wall where his sword was placed. Grabbing it he securely straps it over his back and walks over to the entrance with Saeko.

"Outside" He whispered to Rei, "Get the rifle, and sit behind the counter, don't come up until you hear us." He then waked over and woke up Kohta and Saya, "you guys get your guns, if you hear a two-note whistle, fire a warning shot with the silencer. They nodded their heads in acknowledgement still sleepy, but were getting more used to this 'get ready at a moment's notice' type of lifestyle, and got up, getting ready for Takashi. Rei quietly slipped out the door and sat against the counter, her head right below the cash register, gun in hand and waited.

Now that the group was all prepared, Saeko and Takashi slipped out the back, and silently walked around the corner. Takashi was amazed when he went outside at first, it was as though all his sense were heightened, even his soft steps sounded like claps of thunder to his ears. In the distance he could hear men talking clearly but didn't understand what they were talking about. Some sort of guy getting killed. Saeko appeared to have the same thing going on to her, her head was swiveling around, ears perked on high alert. Every sound that mother nature made, she was aware of, it was like being on adrenaline 24/7. Finally arriving at the front of the store, they peeked their heads out, and their suspicions were confirmed.

Two cars that were not there earlier were parked in front, their headlights off. The only light that illuminated the area came from the quarter moon, but despite this low light, Takashi was able to see them clearly. A group of middle-aged men were gathered in front of the mini-mart, in the process of unstocking supplies presumably. Two of the men were unloading one of the vehicles they came in with while the rest stood guard. A man with a black hat on was ordering the guys that were unloading, on where to put them and other things. Takashi assumed that this must be the leader then. Most of them looked unarmed, but that didn't mean they had nothing concealed. Two of the men carried assault rifles in their hands, while the leader holstered a shotgun up against his shoulder.

"Hey Barry, why hasn't Walter signaled us yet?" One of the men asked the leader named Barry. "I don't know, but I don't like this." Barry answered moodily. "Your decision Takashi." Saeko whispered to me, immediately understanding her words. It was obvious this group of men would soon enter the mini-mart, which would in turn reveal their groups presence here. That meant there were only two real choices left, kill them, or disarm them.

Seeing as how they were actual living people, and not in a situation as Walter was with Alice, Takashi decided it would be best to give them a chance to surrender. "Wait till they are closer to the entrance." The duo creeped forward silently, and slid to the back of the cars. The men were already finished unloading and began walking to the door, luckily, most of the men who had weapons had them holstered, various supplies in their arms.

Jumping up with surprising agility, Takashi landed on the roof of one of the cars, Saeko following suit on the other car. They did this so quietly that the group of men didn't even hear a thing. "Hello there guys, may I help you?" Takashi said coolly. He already knew what he and Saeko must look like to this group. Their silver eyes glowed in the darkness, with Takashis sword plain in view on his back, and Saekos already drawn.

"What the fuck?!" The group shouted, some of them dropping their items and reaching for their weapons. "Ah ah ah," Saeko said mockingly, giving out a low, but loud two-note whistle. Before the men could even react, a *plink* sounded out and one of the cars tires burst, making a loud pop. The men look around scared but the leader already figured out where the shot came from. "Well now, I see your inside already. Are my boys ok?" Barry asked. "Hmm, one of them was naughty so we had to blow his head off." Saeko said with a girlish voice, as she lightly jumped over to Takashis car, and stroked his shoulder.

"There were also those two mean men at the house that we killed, they were with Ronnie, right?" Saeko said to Takashi. "Yea, I believe so, so that makes it three of your men already killed by us." Takashi said flatly to Barry. "I would appreciate it if you dropped your weapons." Takashi asked kindly but stern at the same time. His tone making it clear it was not a suggestion but an order. "Fuck that, I ain't taking no orders from a kid, especially one who just admitted to killing our boys!" One of the men said, as he dropped his stuff and hoisted up his gun. At that second the window shattered into a million fractured shards of glass.

The man that threatened Takashi just stood there for a moment, before falling flat on his face, a Sai sticking out of his back, blood soaking his once white shirt deep red. "Hmm, hmm, hm hm, hmmm, hm hm" A humming came from inside the store as Rei skipped through the window, the other Sai brandished in her hand. Ignoring the men, she calmly walked over to the body and kneeled down to retrieve her weapon. She pulled it with a small tug, and the Sai slipped out with a meaty squelch. She looked up at Takashi, her eyes shining. Takashi for a good second was speechless. First it was Saeko, now here was Rei, looking up at him with eyes like Saturn, rings of gold and silver, mixed with the brown, almost giving her a devilish look, Without saying a single word, she calmly walked over to Takashi's car and leaned up against it so she was directly under him.

"Thank you, Rei." "Quite a spectacle if you ask me" Saeko said following Takashi's thanks. "I thoroughly enjoyed that" Saeko said licking her lips as she gave a knowing smile to Rei. The three then turned back to the totally speechless group.

**Barry's POV**

When I was a kid growing up, my family was heavily involved in gangs. By 8 years old, I was already selling marijuana and cocaine or the local drug dealers, I was their guinea pig, nobody suspects a kid. Once I became a teenager, shit started to get real. No more drug deals or runs, no, I upgraded to armed robbery and kidnapping. Working for the yakuza made me see a lot of fucked up shit over the years.

But seeing that little girl kill that man with no emotion sent shivers down my back.

I didn't know where this group came from, but a few things were already made clear. The first being that despite their young like appearances, this is a deadly group, who will kill without a second thought. The second thing is that at least two of my men are unaccounted for, and most likely assume are dead. Third, these kids scared the crap out of me.

"You seem like a reasonable man, maybe we could work something out?" I ask the boy leader. He looks at me for a long second, then whistles a weird tune, then just goes back to staring at me. "Can you at least give me your name?" Again, the boy just stares at me, his eyes were freaking me out. It was though he was looking right through me. "Takashi" He says quietly.

Before I had a chance to answer, I heard glass crunching behind me, turning around I realize what the whistle was for. He was summoning the rest of the group. His two guys Ronnie and Jake were in the front, Followed by a blonde adult with a little 8 yr old hiding behind her legs, and then a teenage boy and girl. The teenage girl had a SMG in her arms, while the boy had what looked like a sniper rifle strapped to his back.

_These kids are certainly well armed, I wont win if it comes to a gunfight. _

"Shizuki, take Alice with you and go grab the car, Saya, Kohta grab our supplies and get ready to load the car." The boy suddenly spoke issuing orders to his group. Something was wrong, the boy kept tilting his head behind him, as though he was listening to something. Did he hear something? Whatever it was it spooked him and made him ready to leave. "Excuse me but you seem to be on your way out of here, may we also leave in peace?" I said as coolly as I could, trying my best not to show any fear.

The boy looked at me for a second, then stroked the girl's hand that was on his shoulder, "What do you think Saeko" The girl smiled broadly, "You hear it too?" she said wickedly. Whatever they were talking about, it couldn't be good. "Get your stuff ready, we are heading to the mall. "He says to the girl standing underneath him.

"The mall? You mean Taiei Shopping Town™?" I asked surprised, "Yea, why do you know the place?" The boy asked me, this statement clearly piqued his interest. "Yea we just came from near there, we were doing a supply run." I said, trying not to go into detail. "It looked like there were people living in the mall, though I'm not positive."

In truth, I knew for a fact that there was a lot of people there, it seemed that most of the neighboring area took refuge in there, as well as at least the security guards for the mall. We saw one of those guards leaving, but he was quickly overtaken by **Them. **Poor bastard.

"We passed by it on one of our runs, looks like there may be some people there but not sure." I said slightly hiding the full truth. "Hmm interesting." The boy mused, "anyways time for us to go." The boy said suddenly. The sound of a car engine roared to life, and a Humvee flew around the corner, driven by the blonde adult.

The boy from earlier was halfway out the roof of the car, a sniper rifle held casually in his arms. "we are all packed and ready Takashi." The boy called out to the other teen. "Ok, let's go girls." Takashi said, jumping off our car and walking towards his. "What about them" Saeko said still keeping an eye on me and my men. "Leave them be" the boy answered her. The three of them retreated backwards, before hopping into the car and driving off.

After a while, silence resumed once again, the sounds of the car now long gone. Walking over to Jake, I grabbed him by his collar and got right in his face. "Tell me what the fuck just happened, now!"

Jake mentioned how this group came with Ronnie, so I started with him first. Him and two others of my crew went on a supply raid when they stumbled upon some sounds coming from a house. When the group went in to investigate, they discovered a female girl that had killed one of **Them. ** One of his guys decided to have his way with a girl they found since she was in a weakened state. However, their group was attacked by the two swordsmen, and those two killed two of his guys.

After keeping Ronnie prisoner, they eventually made their way over to the mini-mart, where Jake and Walter got entrapped by Ronnie with a little girl. Apparently, the little girl was sent as a mediator, and when Walter refused and pointed a gun at the girl, the group then killed him as well. Despite being made up by a bunch of high schoolers, this group turned out to be very deadly.

Once the guys recapped their story, I was furious. One of my other men came halfway through the interrogation. It turns out that during our holdup outside, those kids also ended up taking our supplies. "Alright boys let us go get some payback!" The boys cheer in unison and scrambled around getting ready.

*arghhh*

A faint voice sounded out. "Did anybody hear that?" I asked to the boys closest to me. They shook theirs heads no. Man I must be hearing things.

*Argghh*

This time I knew I heard something. "Hey, you guys heard that right." The boys this time did shake their heads yes, and looked just as confused as me. Looking around, I couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.

"Over there" One of my men shouted, pointing down the road in front of us. I looked over to where he was pointing "Oh Fuck." I mumbled under my breath. At the end of the street, maybe a city block away, a huge horde of **Them **were slowly walking towards us.

"All the shouting and glass breaking must've attracted them! Let's get out of here men!" I said, racing over to the cars. "The engine won't start" One of the men said frantically. "They've been sabotaged!" Another guy shouted. "God damn those kids." I swore, as the group of **Them **were even closer now. "We are going to have to fight our way out!" I yell as I grab my assault rifle and begin my push to get out of here.

**Meanwhile, Takashi's Group.**

*Bang bang, bangbangbang*

Sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance, Takashi smiled grimly to himself. Both him and Saeko, somehow, heard the horde getting closer, and left right before the horde was to arrive at the mini mart. He didn't feel that bad not warning the men, or the fact that Saeko had pierced their cars gas line, disabling their cars. Or the fact that the other cars tire was blown out. No, whatever happened to that group was not his problem. The only people he was responsible for were the people with him now.

So you think Barry will make it? He going to end up getting payback? What's going to happen at the mall? Anyways if you are reading this I hope you enjoyed my chapter! As always please read and review. It means the world to me.


	5. The Mall : Supply Run

Hey guys. I first want to start out apologizing with the long hiatus. My laptop got destroyed and I lost all my files relating to the story. I had given up on it but saw the reviews of you guys wanting more so I decided to reinvest in the story to make my readers happy. I gave you guys an extra long chapter for the wait!

Also, there is a mature scene in this chapter indicated by the **MA. **If you wish to skip this, I did mark the beginning and end parts of it.

**The Mall – With New Friends Comes Gifts**

It's been two hours since leaving the mini-mart when finally, the group saw the mall coming into view. Taiei Shopping Town. This was the local mall in their city, a moderate sized complex that had about 30 stores and restaurants. "There it is, up ahead" Takashi shouts. No sooner did he say that, a loud bang erupted from the front of the car. The car immediately started slowing down, "I'm hitting the gas, nothing is happening." Shizuka shouts frantically, as she tries to control the cars continued momentum until it was finally able to come to a stop.

Takashi and Kohta got out of the car and walked over to the front. Popping the hood up, the boys immediately recoiled and covered their faces as a plume of smoke erupts from the exposed engine. Coughing and waving his hand to disperse the smoke, Kohta leans in and looks at the engine. "Damn, the timing belt snapped. This car is ruined." He declares angrily. "It's ok, we are almost there anyway, Saeko and Rei grab our supplies, Kohta, grab our ammunition." Takashi ordered out, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

The car had broken down maybe a block or two away from the mall, so it wasn't a terribly long walk. Once everybody had gathered their respective supplies, Takashi started leading the way with the group right behind him. As they got closer, they stumbled upon a half-eaten corpse. The body was still somewhat fresh so he couldn't have perished that many days ago. It appeared that he was a mall security guard. "Must've left to go look for help" Rei murmured sadly.

Shizuki shielded Alice's eyes from the grotesque body as they walked past it, eventually releasing her once they safely passed the decomposing body. As they got even closer to the mall to see it better, they saw that there were indeed signs of human survivors here. The main entrance of the mall had makeshift boards creating a guard wall. Huge stands that must've been used for mannequins were retro fitted into the wall to create spikes.

"Okay before we go in, we should secure our guns somewhere, we don't want them knowing we have anything like that." Takashi said as they approached the mall, only a few buildings away. Kohta nodded, "Good idea" and starts scoping the area for a stash spot. He found a dense group of shrubbery located in front of one of the modernized houses around them. "This should be a good spot" He muttered.

Unstrapping their weapons, they found a fully bloomed bush that securely concealed the duffle bag full of weapons. "Ok, lets head on over." Takashi said. The group got maybe 20 feet from the door when a female voice called out "Who goes there?!"

"We are just survivors!" Takashi shouted back at the unknown person, "We came from our High School!" It wasn't a lie, they did originally come from their high school, but these people didn't need to know where they have been since.

"Very well, hold on." The voice replied one last time, before sounds of something heavy being moved came from behind the main mall door. After a couple of seconds of this the plywood wall blocking the entrance was moved, revealing a blond-haired girl in a security guard uniform.

"Stay there, we are going to search you. Please put your swords on the ground." She said in an authoritative voice. Takashi's group looked at him first, and he nodded to the rest, unstrapping his sword and putting it down on the ground. Saeko and Rei followed suit with their own weapons and waited for further instruction.

Two men walked forward and started patting down the boys first, they checked their pockets, socks, anywhere a concealed weapon might be. When they were done, they gave a thumbs up signal to the girl, and walked over to the girls in the group. As they were about to pat them down, Saeko looks at the men with silver in her eyes. "Don't even think about it. She's more then capable" Saeko said, insinuating the female leader. The men put their hands up and slowly stepped back, fear in their eyes. The girl clearly unnerved them.

"It's ok boys, she is a lady after all." The woman said with a shaky voice trying to compose her authority. She seemed to be a bit unnerved by the girl's eyes, but handled it a lot better than the others. Walking over she patted the older females down. When it was Alice's turn, the lady squatted down so she was at eye level. "I'm gonna pat you down really quick to make sure you don't have anything bad ok?" She said sweetly. Alice nodded her head and lifted her arms up. The lady gently patted her down, and once confirming the entire group was unarmed, stepped back and addressed them.

"Well now that the unpleasantries are out of the way, Welcome to the mall!" The lady says with half hearted humor. "By the way you guys can call me Asami." She said cheerfully. "My names Takashi, and the other boy is Kohta." Takashi said, pointing over to the boy. Kohta gives a small wave while smiling sheepishly, his cheeks tinted cherry red. "If you follow me, I'll find somewhere for you guys to stay. You can gather your swords, but keep in mind if you decide to cause any trouble, you will be dealt with." Asami said sternly before giving them a bright smile and turned around, leading the group into the mall.

They walked through the doors and arrived in a small lobby area. It appeared to be the security area for the mall, a big desk type thing was situated in the middle of the wide corridor. It appeared to have been retrofitted as the second line of the defense. There were two turnstiles on either side of the desk. What appeared to be various sizes of conference tables were jigsaw puzzled together to create a doorway on either side. The entrance way was a rectangular piece of metal, as though it can support something heavy.

Walking through that second security area they arrived in one of the main concourses of the mall. It was an octagon shaped area, with the mall extending towards the north. It was two floors here with a glass arched ceiling that showed the blue sky above. The various stores that once thrived in this mall now sat in darkness, but some of them had emergency lights flickering on." You have power?" Someone asked, "We only run the generators at night for 3 hours a day, or whenever someone has a valid need for it." The lady said cheerily as she looked at their awed faces and answered the groups question.

"How many people are here?" Takashi asked, "we have about 30 people, but over half are on the other side of the mall and don't interact unless it involves meal time." Asami chatted away casually. "This side of the mall has the guards living quarters up on the second floor." Looking up the group could see about 5 stores that had been remodeled in the front. Some of them had patchworks of blankets and sheets to use for privacy, while others used industrial sized curtains to shield their makeshift houses.

Halfway through the concourse to the other end of the mall, they came upon what must have been the old food court in the mall. There were a huge assortment of metal tables and chairs sprawled out among the area. The area was filled with various people walking through, their ages ranging from little kids to aging seniors. "What is this area?" Takashi asked Asami. "This is the cafeteria or the dining area, each day we ration out food twice, once in the morning and once at night. It's during those two times that this area will be most packed." After listening to Asami's explanations about how everything worked, the group was finally led to a small store area situated near the back of the mall.

"Since you are still new to our group, we unfortunately will have to separate you from the rest of our group, just until we get to know you." Asami says shamefully. This was clearly no way to treat guests, but given todays world precautions must be taken. "Of course," Takashi said respectfully. "We completely understand, this is perfectly good accommodations for us." He said with a smile. Asami was glad to hear this, "Ok well if you need anything else there will be a guard posted 2 stores down. Pleasant dreams!" She said smiling cheerfully at the group as she walked off.

The group quickly settled in with Rei, Saeko and Takashi positioned near the entrance, leaving Alice with Shizuka, and Kohta with Saya, all sleeping in the back. Once everybody had settled in, they quickly fell asleep. This was the first time in a while, if ever, that they were able to sleep peacefully without worrying about an attack. A few hours had passed, and the moon had already started making its way down when Saeko woke up with a startle, sweat dripping down her back.

_Something's wrong_

Ever since Saeko had that dream a few days ago, she had started to notice weird things happening to her. At first it was her vision. She was able to see things far away like an eagle, or up close like it was magnified. She originally thought it was just the adrenaline causing this, but it never went away. Then when they confronted Barry, it became her hearing. Heartbeats could be heard now, the racing of the pulse boomed in her ears when she focused. Unbeknownst to her, Takashi had been experiencing the exact same things, but both of them were too afraid to tell the other.

This time…. It didn't have anything to do with her five senses, it was as though it was a 6th sense. But this wasn't that 6th sense that people claimed to have to see the future or other eerie abilities. No, this one was different. It was almost as though she was sensing…. Saeko's eyes fly wide open. She finally figured out where she's felt this feeling before, she's felt it within herself. This was _**Killing Intent**_.

Quickly crawling over to Takashi, she shakes him to get him to wake up. Takashi turns over groggily, but upon seeing Saeko's face, it was though cold water had been doused on him. He immediately went on alert and looked around. His senses weren't as keen as Saeko's yet, but they were developing fast. Despite this he was still able to pick up a trace of the _**Intent. **_"You feel that right" Saeko whispered to Takashi. He nods his head and reaches over grabbing his sword. "It's faint, so I don't think its coming from inside the mall." Takashi whispered back to Saeko. Saeko nodded her head in agreement.

All of a sudden without warning, the _**Intent **_disappeared without a trace. "Go back to sleep, I'll stand guard." Takashi said quietly to Saeko. Moving his body over, he positioned himself directly in the entrance of the store, his eyes monitoring the floor of the mall. Moonlight poured down in splashes, lighting up most of the surrounding area. If anyone tried to approach them, Takashi would clearly spot them from a good distance away.

**MA**

"Takashi you asleep?" Saeko whispered out softly. "I'm standing guard silly, yes I'm awake" Takashi's answers, his eyes still keeping guard outside the store.

"Can you hold me." Saeko says softly, her soft tone surprising Takashi. He's never seen this side of Saeko before. "Hey are you ok?" He says, taking Saeko in his arms. "Yes, I'm just…" Liftering her head up she looks into Takashi's eyes. "I'm scared to lose you." With this being said, Saeko kisses Takashi's lips, her small lips being skillfully taken in by Takashi's. Takashi embraces Saeko, holding her tight as they continue to kiss. Without warning Saeko pivots Takashi off of her, ending up with her now straddling Takashi like a horse.

Leaning down, she lightly grazes her teeth down his neck. "I want you… to be my first…" She softly whispers in his ear. Takashi's breath catches as he fully grasps Saeko's intentions. He shyly blushes, and whispers, "You would be my first too." Takashi had some experience when he dated Rei, but the two of them had never gotten this far.

Without any more discussion, Saeko pulls off Takashi's shirt before slowly taking hers off. The white glow of the moonlight shown off of Saeko's jade like skin, illuminating her like a fairy. A thin fabric bandeau and her silky lace undergarments were all that was left when Saeko finished undressing.

Saeko slinked down and skillfully pulled off Takashi's pants leaving them both in only their undergarments. Takashi's sword was fully unsheathed and pressed up against Saeko's valley. The rubbing alone caused dew to blossom in the valley, Saeko's heavy breathing turning into soft moans.

"Shh, we don't want to wake the others." Takashi quietly said with shy smirk. Saeko's face blushed a deep red in embarrassment and buried her face into Takashi's neck to smother her sounds. Takashi pushed the lace to the side, and with a quick thrust entered the tight valley. This never before felt warmth was ecstatic to Takashi, as he quickly craved more, he began to slowly speed up his rhythm. Saeko bit down on Takashi's shoulder, the initial pain almost too much to bear, the entrance stretched to its outer limits. Almost as quick as the pain came, intense pleasure quickly rushed through her body, her sensual moans being swallowed up by Takashi's loving lips.

After what felt like an eternity to the two of them, neither one wanting it to end, the dam finally broke. Both of them had reached climax at the same time, and something strange happened. Unbeknownst to them, their auras had joined mid-coitus, with not only their bodies as one, but their very essences becoming linked as one.

**MA**

**The next morning….**

Takashi slept soundly in the back as Saeko and Rei were getting ready for the day. Other than their moment of passion it was an uneventful rest of the night. So Saeko and Takashi thought it would be best to keep last nights incident quiet for now.

As the rest of the group started waking up, footsteps could be heard approaching their area. Saeko looked out and spotted Asami walking towards them, a smile on her face. "Good morning! Hope you had a pleasant night's sleep." She said with a smile once she arrived. "Is anyone hungry? We are serving oatmeal this morning."

As Asami said that, the little girls stomach let out a loud grumble. Shizuki laughed as Alice blushed in embarrassment. "I think the little ones hungry, why don't we girls go get some food for the boys, hmm?" Shizuki said to the group. The girls nodded their heads in agreement and prepared to head out.

Following Asami into the cafeteria, the group was led to a little food store that was reconverted into a lunch counter. Behind the counter were three workers that were handing out bowls of food from large silver vats. "Due to the lack of resources we tend to have to resort to whatever is available. Right now, we had recently come across a large amount of feed that happened to contain oats. By boiling it down once and then cooking it again in water, it removes most of the impurities and makes edible. It's not much but its something." Asami explained to the group.

The group nodded their heads in understanding and went on line to get their food. After getting all the bowls, with Takagi and Saeko carrying the extras for the boys, the group began heading back to their area.

"My group is going on a supply run later on, we could use some experienced hands if you guys are interested." Asami mentions to them as they walk. "It's up to Takashi" Saeko says bluntly. Asami was clearly taken aback by the girls determined way of answering. It made it clear to Asami that it wasn't Saeko's decision. "Very well, let me know when you have an answer, I will be near the front entrance if you need me.

Upon arriving, Saeko noticed Takashi had awoken. "Here you go Takashi." Saeko says gently has she hands him the bowl of oatmeal. "Oh, you didn't have to do this! Thank you Saeko." Takashi said cheerfully as he digs in. Upon eating a spoonful, his face suddenly sours a bit, and he emphasizes the swallow. "Very flavorful." He says wryly, as the group laughs and began sitting down to enjoy their food.

After eating for a little bit, Saeko remembered to ask Takashi about Asami's request. "Hey Takashi, so Asami mentioned earlier that she was going out with some others for a supply run, and wanted to know if we were interested in helping out since we have experience outside." Takashi listened to Saeko's words, his face deep in thought.

If Saeko had to take a guess, she would most likely think that it was last nights events that gave Takashi such pause. There was clearly something out there that gave off that intent, and who knows where that thing went now. After finishing another bite of food, Takashi finally came to a decision.

"Saeko and I will go out with them, meanwhile I want you guys to start stocking up on supplies. Just in case..." He adds on at the end. The group nods their head, acknowledging Takashi's decision.

After the group had finished eating, Takashi and Saeko strapped on their swords and bid their farewells to the group. "We should, at the latest, be back by tomorrow." Takashi says to them. Turning to Rei, "You and Kohta take care of the group while we are out." Rei nods her head in acknowledgement. "Ok then we're off" He says with a wave bye to the group.

"So where are we going now?" Takashi asked Saeko. "She said that she will be at the front entrance, so let's go there." She replied. Takashi nodded and followed Saeko to the entrance. As they turned the corner to the entrance, they spotted Asami with four other men. These men were mostly middle aged and were very tough looking. Asami waved them over and started making introductions once the two of them joined the group.

"This is Saeko and Takashi, they are outsiders that joined us yesterday." She said to the men. One of the older men looked over the two youths, and spotted the swords strapped to their backs. "Swords huh? Silent weapons but only good for one on one", he said with a laugh. "You kids got any experience dealing with these things?" He said skeptically.

Takashi ignored the rudeness behind his comment and simply said, "We can handle ourselves." The man's eyebrows raised, and Asami gasped at the callousness from Takashi. Before things got really intense the old man broke out in laughter. "Hahaha, I like your spirit. Let's see that in the field huh? My names Brock, these are my men Jake, Jose and Kevin. We were auxiliary forces for the police force before all this shit hit the fan."

"So, where we going today?" Takashi asked Brock and Asami. Brocks pulls out a map and motions the group to come over. "ok so this is where we are," pointing at a red circle signaling the mall. "Over here is an old storage unit that the police used for confiscated weapons and other things that they obtained through raids. Before everything went down the department did a big raid on one of the local Yakuza dens. We are talking at least hundreds of rounds in ammo and assorted weapons." He said to the group. Takashi's face lit up at these words. This location alone was a gold mine in this new world. The weapons they had stashed were very low on ammo, so this trip could be a huge reward!

Saeko stared at the map intensely for a few seconds and noticed something. "I see the catch though." She muttered. Everyone but Brock looked at her cluelessly. "Your absolutely right." He says gravely, pointing at the spot that caught Saeko' eyes. "This was the local clinic, when the first wave of **Them** came, a lot of the 'survivors' ended up here. I'm sure you can imagine what happened shortly after."

The two youths hung their head down their faces darkened, the horrors of Takagis house and the High School still fresh in their mind. "According to our scouts, the horde of **Them **that lurked there have suddenly thinned out drastically. This may be our only chance to go get those supplies with the lowest risk."

"Couldn't we go around the clinic?" Asami asked Brock. "We could but both ways around go through densely populated housings. It could be better or it could end up ten times worse. At least with this determined route, it's the most direct path, with the widest area making it hard for us to get blocked in."

The group nodded at Brock's analysis; it was a well thought out plan. "Ok so here's how this is gonna work. You brats are going to come with me and Asami. We will clear the path there so my men can come in with the truck. Once the truck comes, we secure the location, get the supplies, and get the hell out of there! Got it!" Brock barked out to the group. The 3 men with Brock immediately saluted. "Sir yes Sir!" the shout in unison.

"Alright kids let's move out!" One of the front entrance guards lifts the gate, allowing the group to quickly slip out and began making their way to the warehouse. "I'll take point, Asami you bring up the rear" Brock quickly ordered out. The two youths followed this man for about three blocks until they ran into their first obstacle.

The main way Brock was taking them had been blocked by a collapsed building, making them have to detour down an alleyway to get around. As the group rounded the corner of a T intersection, Brock immediately put his hand up to stop the others. The silence that followed the last footstep was quickly interrupted by moans coming down the alleyway in front of them and to the left of them. The left pathway still had no signs of the enemy but the sounds were much louder. The pathway in front of them only had about 10 of **Them **but they were rapidly approaching. "Fuck ok, try to draw them out from the group and…"

The moment Saeko and Takashi stopped in that intersection a tingling sensation surged through their bodies. Both of them could sense the horde that was to the left alleyway, the number of **Them** was so staggering they knew that way wasn't an option. Which left the path in front of them as the only option. With barely a glance at each other the two rushed forward in sync, cutting off Brock midsentence. With quick precision they drew their blades and immediately pounced on the first two bodies.

The two warriors danced in a ballet of blood, as every twirl and spin resulted in a sliced limb. The partners dove and weaved with one another, leaving not even an inch undefended, one guarding the other, a perfect harmony of offense with defense was displayed in a sea of blood.

Every move Saeko made, Takashi already saw coming, as their minds became one. The two were completely unaware of the shimmer forming around their bodies. When the last creature was slain, a sudden blue dyed the area, as though someone put blue stained glass in front of the sun. Time around them seemed frozen except for the two of them. Right as Saeko was about to speak, a voice filtered out from the sky.

"I know you have questions; they will be answered in time."

"For now, know this, there are the old ones who have been awoken from their slumber. Some of them like this new world and have aided in factors that can turn this nightmare into a new living hell. But... There are others who still believe in humanity, and would wish to see its survival."

The voice paused as if to let the words soak in. Saeko immediately came to two realizations. The first; whatever these weird new abilities and strengths came from, this person(god?) had given it to them. The second; They aren't the only ones who got gifts, and by the sounds of it, some of them aren't nice people.

"So why me?" Saeko asked the voice. For a long pause there was silence until a whisper sounded out." Because I see something in you girl, the desire to kill, and something else…"

"As for you boy, my consort also see's something in you, and I believe you two have already met." The voice said dismissively.

"Whatever other questions you have, it is of no matter. We have given these gifts to you and others have given their gifts to your friends as well, but these gifts shall vary on the person. Use these gifts wisely, and you will start to understand more once you learn about what you have given."

With that being said the world was suddenly dipped in dark for a split second before time once again started.

High above them in the sky, a woman cloaked in darkness appeared. A man materialized next to her, taking the figure into his arms. "Do you think we have chosen well my love?" He asks the woman, "Erebus," The woman says coldly, her mere presence shaking the very starlight. "Do you doubt me?" The man chuckles, "never my love," and with that the two of them disappeared into space.


	6. The Gifts

A/N so I've noticed it was a little confusing when I had the spirits talking so from now on _thoughts_ are in italics, **Bold **is to reference one of the zombies (Thinking of changing the name from just Them) _**Bold Italics **_Will indicate when spirits are talking

Asami and Brock were standing there, staring at the two kids in pure horror/shock. Brock had seen a thing or two working the streets as a law enforcement, but the way these two kids essentially diced up the enemies in front of them was definitely stomach churning. Asami was just standing there petrified when something clicked. If these two kids were able to fight like that, then ever since these two and their group stepped into the mall, the whole mall was at their mercy whether they knew it or not. She had even allowed them to hold on to their swords when they came in. Therefore, at any given time they could've easily dispatched her, the guards, and every single person currently living in the mall.

"Come on, let's move before there's more." Takashi quickly says, as he pushes forward down the alleyway. Brock grunts, "I'll cover the rear then, let's go Asami." With that said Saeko and Takashi went shoulder to shoulder as they began leading the group, making their push down the alleyway before reaching the corner where they would turn to loop back on to the main road.

After a minute they ended up on the street, now on the other side of the collapsed building, and looked at the destruction blocking the road. "So how are we supposed to retrieve the supplies now?" Asami asks Brock. Brock scratches his head as he scrambles to figure out something. "We just need to bring the supplies here at least, right?" Takashi asks Brock. Brock nodded his head yes, "Then why don't we just find a car near the supplies and drive it here, then just haul the stuff over to our vehicle?"

"That could work." Brock said thoughtfully as he stroked his chin. "But that's A. Assuming we find a working car, B. manage to get it started without attracting attention." "Well, we are going to have to figure something out either way, but let's get there first ok?" Takashi said. Brock grunts his affirmation and the group continue down the road.

After five minutes of no trouble, the group finally could see the storage house in front of them. The building looked like a smaller sized warehouse snuggled in between two abandoned buildings. If one didn't know better, they would never have assumed that this plain looking warehouse stored the police's confiscated goods. Just in raided drugs alone could make any stoners wet dream come true. If one desired to arm a small army they would also be in heaven.

"Alright there it is, you two go secure the storage house, me and Asami will go find us a vehicle." Brock said to Takashi and Saeko, before him and Asami peeled off into an alleyway and started searching all the nearby buildings for a car to use.

"Okay, looks all clear, let's go." Takashi said, as the two of them crouched down and started making their way over. When they were about 100ft away, both of them suddenly felt a tingle run down their spines. "Somethings wron…" Midway through speaking a red blur came out of nowhere and threw Takashi into the wall of the building next to the storage building.

"What the hell, TAKASHI!" Saeko screamed as she looked over and saw a living nightmare. The **Nightmare** that had come out of nowhere was now standing roughly 6 feet away from Saeko. It stood about 7ft tall and was a deep color of red. It was humanoid shaped, but its arms were much longer then in proportion to the body. Upon closer examination, Saeko thought that it was fur or skin that gave the creature it's red color, but in fact this creature had no skin at all. Instead its outer body was made up of just muscles and tendons, wrapping around the skeletal body. As for its face, where its eyes were supposed to be, were just sunken in red holes that glowed a crimson red. His teeth gave off a Cheshire* smile as there were no lips to cover it. Its teeth looked normal in the front, but actually all the teeth were incisors, jagged and sharp with tiny bits of meat from something stuck in-between.

*{Cheschire cat from Alice in Wonderland}

With a big roar the **Nightmare** started charging at Saeko on all fours, like a linebacker in football. Saeko quickly rolled to the side to avoid the charge, and swiped her sword at the creature's heel in an attempt to sever the muscles. Instead, a loud CLANG was heard, the blade felt like it had hit metal, the vibrations almost causing Saeko to lose her grip on the blade.

Retreating back a few steps, Saeko looked over to where Takashi had landed. She could see that his body made a noticeable dent into the wall, fracture lines splintering from a crater caused by the impact. Takashi's body was in a crumpled pile on the ground, not moving. Upon seeing this, Saeko began to lose it.

_I have to do something or we are both dead. Fuck, fuck FUCK! That bastard hurt him! _Saeko thought to herself as she slowly starts brewing into a rage. The** Nightmare**, now regaining its composure after the missed charge, turned around and roared again, this time going on all fours like a beast and began charging towards Saeko again. Right before it was upon her, Saeko launched herself up in an attempt to jump over the beast and avoid the charge, and ended up flying 10 ft high in the air!

Because of the fact that she had no idea this was going to happen, Saeko pretty ungracefully came plummeting down to the ground, landing in a heap. As she slowly started getting up, a voice filtered through her head. _**Your powers will come when you are ready but there will be trials**__. _Wait isn't that what the goddess said? This must be the start of her powers then. Before she could think about it anymore, she jumped again to avoid another charge by the **Nightmare, **however this time she used less strength then last time, resulting in her flying over the **Nightmare **gracefully. The two continued this dance for a while, as Saeko tried to understand her newfound strength.

_Okay, I see how it works now. _Saeko had finally started figuring out this new strength of hers. At first, she tried to consciously think about her movements and strength she put into every jump, but she quickly realized that in order to do that meant losing focus on the enemy, which is something she couldn't afford to do. Instead she learned that all she had to do was control how hard she applied pressure. If she were to push down hard with all her strength, she could probably launch herself 30ft in the air, but that also meant learning how to land from a 30 ft drop.

Just because she had the strength didn't mean she immediately knew how to use it so she didn't want to test her limit yet. Instead she practiced by using light kickoffs by only using the balls of her feet. This turned out to work beautifully because it fit in her fighting style. However, this joy was short lived, because she had still yet to even scratch the creature. It has been almost 5 minutes now and Takashi had still yet to get up, which really started to freak out Saeko. _Get up Takashi! Please get up!_

The more frantic Saekos mind began to spin, the more erratic her movements became. Since Saeko was still new to these powers, she didn't know that emotions played a strong role in it, and unless those emotions were honed, they would run rampant. In other words, her simple jumping around began resulting in mini craters starting to form on the ground from where she was landing due to her anger.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT TAKASHI!" Saeko screams at the **Nightmare. **

"DIEEEE!" Saeko shouts again after repeatedly cursing at the thing numerous times. She aimed her sword at the base of the skull of the **Nightmare, **but, just like the last time she did this, the result ended up the same. With a loud CLANG the blade once again bounced off, not even leaving a scratch behind. "GAHHH" Saeko screamed, her voice turning more feral, as she desperately does everything she can, to kill this creature that destroyed her Takashi.

_What the hell? What happened? We were just outside the storage house when…. Something hit me. Hard. What the hell was that? And why am I so cold?_

Takashi's eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up. "What the, where the hell am i?" He exclaimed as he became aware of his new surroundings. What was once and abandoned street full of buildings was now nothingness. Where Saeko had been mere seconds ago was emptiness. Now, it was just darkness.

**"**_**Hello little one"**_

A voice filtered through the dark

** "**_**Do you remember me? It wasn't long ago that we met**_**."**

"Erebus?"

_** "Very good, it seems I have chosen well. Right now, your partner is in the midst of her first trial. Your trial has just begun. You have a lot of potential within you, but there is also much turmoil. This is okay because as one who will become one with Chaos, this is natural. What matters is that you control this Chaos.**_

"Okay but what exactly does that mean? From what I know of you, you're a primordial Deity, existing long before even the gods themselves. This power it must be massive."

Even though he couldn't see anything, Takashi almost fell as though the deity was smiling after he finished.

"_**Yes and no. As a human, there is now way for me to bestow my full powers on to you. However, as you begin harnessing your gifts, your body will begin to change on the metaphysical level. This does not mean you will become a god however. **_Erebus said with a hearty laugh. _**"Do not think yourself immortal, for you can very easily be killed. **_

_** "Now let me bestow upon you this gift."**_

With that being said a cool feeling could be felt on Takashi 's head. Before all of a sudden, a piercing pain went through his head. It was though someone took a hot poker and impaled his skull, the pain was excruciating.

"Gahhhhh, Saeko, wheres Saeko? AHHHHHH…. Rei, Rei, where are you? GAHHHHHH SAEKOOOOO!

Takashi started rambling, his mind starting to overload. His mind was churning, he struggled to think clearly but it was impossible. After what felt like an eternity the pain finally stopped.

_**Your body may be able to handle the gifts but your mind is not. I had hoped you would be able to accept these abilities, but it appears I acted with haste. Very well, we must strengthen your mental fortitude, so I will bestow on you a different gift. **_

With that being said the voice whispered something into Takashi's ears, and his eyes slowly closed.

It had been 30 minutes now and Saeko was still fight the **Nightmare**. Brock and Asami had come by not that long ago, but upon seeing the fierce battle going on between Saeko and the **Nightmare**, they quickly turned around and sped off somewhere. Saeko didn't know if they were waiting for a signal, going for backup, or simply gave up on her, all she could think about now was Takashi.

Takashi was dead.

And this son of a bitch killed him.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

She screams out, as she slashes and stabs at the beast. There still had yet to be a scratch on the beast, but if one was viewing the battle from the beginning, they would see the creature was fatigued. Still, for that creature even though it was fatigued, it was still very dangerous. Saeko was covered in gashes, though they were thankfully not deep.

Her eyes, which once went silver, were now slowly turning black. The darkness of her pupil began bleeding through the iris, threatening to consume her entire eye. Veins of black began pulsing around her eyes and neck, spreading to her arms and eventually her legs. Soon after a faint glow of black could be seen emanating from her like an aura.

_**Yes, embrace the darkness little girl, let it become one with you.**_Saeko took one last look at Takashi, and closed them, giving in to the darkness. She let her thoughts be consumed with only one thought standing strong in the Darkness. Protect Takashi. She let this thought devour the Darkness, her love for Takashi being the only tether to the ground.

_**Congratulations, you have passed your first test.**_The voice said with a cackle.

_**My consort has bestowed his gifts on your beloved already, though he will need your help to control it. Erebus's power is strong, almost as strong as ours, but unlike you the boy hasn't fully embraced the darkness yet. He will need your guidance. **_

_**My main gift as the Goddess of Night, is the very manipulation of Darkness itself, which will become your power later on as well. Everywhere there is darkness, it will be under your control, you can blend as one with the shadows, or absorb light with your dark. **_

_**I will explain these abilities in more detail later on, but first you must survive the second trial.**_

_**Your friends will be joining you soon.**_

As soon as this was said, both Takashi and Saeko's eyes flew open at the same time, both the color of night.

**Back at the mall**

Shizuki was currently doing inventory on medical supplies, making sure she had enough bandages and antiseptic for the group. "And a little bit of this and ooh, we need some of this." As she hummed to herself a hawk was perched on the window outside, staring directly at Shizuki. The bird captivated her attention for some reason, and she began reaching out to it. _Not yet _a voice seemed to have said from the hawk, as the bird screeched loudly and flew away.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Shizuki finished packing her medical supplies and went up to the roof to join the others. Rei apparently had taken a liking to the bows and arrows that the guards used to fend off small hordes of zombies. With a compact design and near silent action, it was a perfect weapon to use against the enemy. The main issue was ammunition, but the guards found a stockpile of carbon fiber-based arrows, which as long as the feathers weren't damaged, could be reused multiple times.

Climbing up the stairs Shizuki joined the rest of her group and the people at the mall who were also training. Rei was standing about 100 feet away from a target holding a compound bow in her hand. Thanks to Kohta, this bow had been specially modified to her and fit her body perfectly. The quiver for the arrows had also been specially modified to be lightweight and compact, perfect for tumbles and mobility. She switched her Sais to be positioned on her inner thighs, this way if she was disarmed of her bow, she could switch to hand to hand combat.

THWACK THWACK THWACK

Rei fired the bow in perfect rhythm, the twangs of the bow were sung by the arrows as they landed near perfectly on the target. "Very good" one of the instructors said to Rei, "You sure you've never done this before? You're a natural at it." This had been the 8th round of arrows, and Rei had yet to stray far from the target.

"No, today is the first day I've ever even practiced archery." Rei was just as surprised as the instructor. Sure, she was in the Shojustu club, but they didn't really do archery, it was more hand to hand combat. What made her want to come up here anyway? She was sitting on the roof looking out at the view, thinking about how Takashi's trip was going, when all of a sudden, a silver stag ran out of a nearby alleyway.

Rei had no idea where the stag had come from, after all, they were almost a mile away from the nearest woods. The stag seemed to just be wandering, its silvery coat shining in the sunlight. All of a sudden, its ears perked and it looked up, staring directly at Rei. As Rei remain locked by the stag's gaze, she felt tingles run through her body, as though the beast was calling to her. As soon as that sensation came it was gone and as Rei rubbed her eyes to clear her mind, as soon as she opened her eyes the stag was gone. "That was weird" Rei had thought before deciding to check on the roof.

After about an hour of Rei practicing with the different types of bows that the guard had available, Rei decided to stick with the compound bow that she used in the beginning. "Hmm I should probably find Kohta and thank him for the modifications he did to it for me. "she said to herself, as she slung the bow over her shoulder, getting used to the new weight between the quiver and the bow.

"Hey Shizuki, do you know where Kohta is?" Rei asked. "I think he's downstairs helping fix the generators for Asami" Shizuki answered. "Ok, we will meet up with him later." As the two of them started to head to the access door to go inside, a car engine could faintly be heard and was getting louder. The two girls ran back to the edge of the roof and looked down to investigate where it was coming from.

In the distance they could see one of the security vehicles from the mall come racing towards the mall. "Wait, isn't that the vehicle that those people and Takashi and Saeko left with?" Rei asked. She was almost sure it was the same vehicle, but it didn't look like their two friends were with them… "Go get Kohta and the others, I'll meet you downstairs. "Rei ordered Shizuki as she quickly ran to the front entrance.

Shizuki raced to the basement where Kohta was busy working on the generators. Despite the mall workers best efforts, they weren't able to get the main generator started, so they have been using the gas sub generators sparingly instead. The problem with this was two things, first was the emissions given off by the generators. The workers had made a makeshift ventilation shaft but it wasn't fool proof. You were fine if you were there just to do repairs, but prolonged exposure could lead to asphyxiation.

The second and bigger problem was fuel. The main generator was connected to solar panels on the roof so there was no need for it. The backup generators weren't meant to last long so there wasn't a huge reserve of fuel. Since the environment wasn't safe for long term work, Kohta had been going in in 15 min intervals. After staring at the same three wires for the last 3 shifts, Kohta rubbed his face in exasperation and left to take another break.

As he exited the generator room, he heard a faint voice "Kohta!" After a few minutes he heard his name being called again, this time it was louder and Kohta could hear it more clearly._ That sounds like Takagi. _"Kohtaaaaa!" Takagis voice could now be clearly heard as Kohta watched the pink headed girl come running towards him. Panting from exhaustion she leans down and rests her hands on her legs to catch her breath. "Ta-Takagis vehicle is back but Saeko and Takashi aren't there. Rei said to get upstairs quick."

"Where's Alice?" Kohta asked as the two of them were running upstairs, "She's with some other children, she's fine, leave her for now, she doesn't need to worry unnecessarily" Takasgi replied. Kohta nodded his head and agreement as they finally got to the main concourse of the mall. The two of them rounded the corner and saw Shizuki and Rei standing with one of the guards.

As soon as the two of them joined the others, "Tell them what you told me." Rei said to the guard with a grim face as she looked at Kohta and Saya. Shizuki had tears escaping from the corners of her eyes, and she quickly brushed them away before they had a chance to form. Right away Kohta and Saya realized something bad must've happened.

The guard looked genuinely frightened, "All I know is this. We went down the street according to the plan until we hit a collapsed building about a mile down the road. Brock and Asami went with your friends to the storehouse and were supposed to rendezvous with us on the other side of the building once they got the supplies from the storage. Everything was going fine until all of a sudden, we heard a loud roar. A few minutes later, Asami and Brock came speeding over to us in a car they jacked and told us to come here as soon as possible and get you guys."

"Brock's exact words were, 'if those kids are anything like these two with us, we need them here immediately' I don't know what he meant by that but we need your guys help now." Kohta looks at Rei and tilted his head as if to ask something. Rei nodded her head as though she acknowledged something, and Kohta immediately grabbed Saya's hand and the two started running towards the buildings across the street.

"Where are they going?" The guard asked, visibly confused. "We need a vehicle now, Shizuki, grab your medical supplies." "Already got them!" Shizuki answered as she held up her bag. Kohta and Saya could be seen heading back, and the guards jaw dropped when he saw them and what they were carrying.

Kohta had a large dufflebag slung over his shoulder, but what shocked the guard, was the military grade sniper rifle he was holding. Saya wasn't any different as she casually held her Submachine MP5 in her hands.

"Where the hell did you get those?" The guard asked incredulously. "We got them on the way here. You guys ready?" Rei said answering the guard's question and then asking Kohta and Takagi. "Yea we are all set, Rei, you want a gun?" Rei thought about it, but subconsciously stroked the quiver on her back. "Now ill stick with the bow, it feels more right." She answered.

"Suit yourself." Kohta said with a shrug. "Alright let's move out. You. Bring us as close as you can, we will take it from there." Rei said to the group then the guard. Rei, Takagi, Kohta and Shizuki all then piled into the car and drove off to go help Takashi and Saeko.

**Nearby on top of one of the nearby buildings. **

The man lost track of how long he's been sitting there waiting. Boss told him to monitor the mall they've been trying to get into, but once he informed Boss that the kids from earlier were now staying at the mall, they all but lost hope of raiding.

That was until this morning. The man woke up to the sounds of a car engine and saw 4 adults pile in with two kids. Judging by the swords on their back, he safely assumed that those two were part of the group they had encountered. He also knew from the Boss that those two were the groups biggest fighters, though the others were not to be underestimated.

After relaying the information to the Boos about the two kids, he was told to hold his position as the Boss was preparing on heading over with the rest of the crew. They had about 30 men, but only a little over half had the courage/ lack of morals to kill other living beings. Him personally couldn't do it. It's not that he was scared or anything he just didn't understand the reason to kill other humans when they are all stuck in this living nightmare.

As he was pondering his life choices and what led to him being on this roof, he heard the car engine again. They were back so soon? It had only been maybe 20-30 minutes. By the way the car was speeding so the guy could only guess that something went wrong. This guess was furthered as he saw only one person get out of the car and run into the mall frantically.

_Hmm I wonder what happened?_

After a few minutes had passed since the person ran inside, two figures suddenly came running out. Judging by their clothes and their age, the man assumed that these were some of the kids from the group. The two kids were running to one of the houses and stopped in front of one that had a huge bush wrapping around the front stairs. One of the kids practically dives into the bush and pulls out a big duffel bag.

_Hmm, they must've stashed it there before they went into the mall. I wonder what's in it… What the fuck?!_

The mans thoughts about guessing what was in the duffel bag were quickly answered when they person pulled out a weapon. From this distance it appeared to be some sort of rifle, but it was definitely a gun. "Where the fuck did that kid get that?!" The man practically yelled at himself. As he stared in disbelief, the two kids started running back to the mall. Whatever that had happened was obviously big, and it was clear they were gearing up for a fight.

Sure enough shortly after they went in, the car that came left again, but this time was clearly full and assumedly was filled with the kids. Which meant that the malls main defenses were all gone, only the grunts were left behind. The man broke out into an evil smile, before grabbing his gear to find the radio.

With one last look at the mall, he holds down the walkie talkie and reports back in to his boss.

"Barry? It's Ronnie. Those kids we ran into are gone now and so is most of the malls security."

After a few seconds of silence, a voice crackled through the walkie.

"Very good. Time to make ourselves at home"

A/N: So, before you guys ask yes, I will be also bestowing gifts on Takagi and Kohta, though I haven't decided what yet. I would love to hear your guys thoughts with how this story is going.

As always please read and review it means a lot to me. See you next time


	7. Weapons of the New World

**Weapons of the New World.**

Takashi's head was pulsing, his body felt like it was made up of glass and shattered into a million pieces. All these feelings and sensations came rushing in to me like a river, as though I could literally feel the torrential flood washing over me. It was a river of darkness swirling and twisting around me, as though it was alive and sentient, but it didn't scare me.

Instead, the feeling, it almost felt… comforting, like a warm embrace… like home.

Slowly sitting up, I hold my pounding head, trying to figure out what just happened, when all of a sudden, a huge roar wakes me up from my stupor, as I turn towards the sound my jaw drops at what I see. Saeko was there, rapidly dashing around a huge terrifying beast that could only be described as a **Nightmare**, bouncing around it to avoid the slashes from its long arms that were clearly tipped with equally long claws.

It looked like she had been fighting the creature for a while. Slash marks, and torn pieces of her clothing were visible, but thankfully no blood. Despite all of her wounds it looked like she barely hurt that **Nightmare. **Knowing that it had nothing to do with Saekos fighting ability, it was safe to assume something was weird about the creature.

"SAEKO YOU OKAY?" I scream out but immediately regret it. My scream caused Saeko to literally stop moving as she turned her head and looked at me, her face filling with joy, and… her eyes that looked like the blackest ink.

Huh.

That's new.

The brief pause in Saeko's movements from my scream gave the **Nightmare** its chance as it quickly pounced on her blindside, and backhanded her with massive force, sending her tumbling away.

Much to my surprise though, as soon as Saeko stopped tumbling she flipped back up to a crouch, and started launching herself back at the **Nightmare **swinging her sword in another attack**. **Getting over my shock i unsheathed the blade I still had strapped to my back and started charging at the **Nightmare** opposite of Saeko to go help her out.

_"Has she managed to injure it yet?" _Takashi thought as he looked over at Saeko. "_No not yet, my blade can't cut through the things muscles." _Wait… How did Saeko answer me? She was a good 50ft away from me at least… Unless…. Time to test a theory.

"_Saeko, can you hear me?" _I sent the thought out, and sure enough, "_Yes of course I can, are we really having this conversation now?"_ I chuckle to myself despite the current situation we are in, and I can see the realization dawning on Saeko's face. _This must've been what Erebus had meant by gift. I have telepathy? _

_ "Ok I don't quite know how I'm doing this, but let's use this to our advantage." "What do you have in mind?" "Well for starters where have you attacked so far?" _Saeko opened up her mind to me and I dived in. Her mind became like a movie theatre, different thoughts flitting through, images of what I assumed was her childhood, images of the school, until finally her thoughts settled onto the recent events.

I saw myself get smashed into the wall by the **Nightmare, **and felt Saeko's pain and rage causing her to fly into a frenzy thinking he was dead. Shit so did I, the impact of me alone getting smashed me flinch. All of her emotions were swirling around me, infused into the images. He literally felt her fear when that happened, but fear of what? Without a second thought I dove into those thoughts of her fear. It was the fear of losing the group, of losing him, but the biggest fear, was of being alone. _Saeko, this is how you feel? _

Diving deep into Saeko's thoughts and feelings unlocked something inside of me. I saw the intensity that drove her to go all out against the **Nightmare** even though she knew she wasn't hurting the thing. He admired her intensity, and only one thought made sense _I'm here now Saeko, you're not alone._

I leaped over next to Saeko so they were now standing shoulder to shoulder. "So... you have telepathy huh?" Saeko said with a grin. "I guess so." I answered back with a smile, "What about you, what can you do?" Saeko gives a small laugh, "Well so far I can jump really high." The thought of Saeko jumping like a bunny made me want to laugh but I knew it was time to be serious. "So... any ideas on how to kill this thing?"

"Nope, my blade just bounces right off no matter where I hit it, I even used my enhanced strength and it did nothing." Saeko face scrunched up in that look that meant she had thought of something, "…Everything that is darkness, will be under your control…" Saeko muttered under her breath before spinning around, looking for something. "If you got a plan, wanna let me in on it." I asked.

"We need to get into darkness, I don't know why but I feel we will be stronger there." I nod in agreement not even questioning what she meant, just your normal conversation these days. _"I trust you" _With that thought the two of us immediately turned and began running down the street. After two steps into the run Saeko shot like a cannonball leaving me in a cloud of dust, literally. I got startled so badly I forgot how to run for a second and came tripping to a stop.

"Can I do that?" I said out loud with my eyes wide, pointing to myself like an idiot. Planting my feet down I pushed with all my strength… and only went slightly faster (to my major disappointment, not to mention embarrassment) … Saeko, now realizing that i couldn't keep up, ran back and slowed down to my pace. "How did you do that? That super speed?" I asked her. "I don't know, I thought you were dead and then, it just happened."

"Ok, but did anything else happen before that?" I asked, trying to figure out what could trigger my abilities other than having Saeko get killed… "Do you think that's something unique to you?" "hmm, it's possible, maybe you have mental abilities and I have physical?" Saeko answered, but as soon as she said that, for some reason we knew that wasn't true.

"The goddess said something to me. I just can't remember what it was, but it was something about you and darkness." I said to Saeko. "Maybe the way to activate my power has something to do with you." As we were talking, we were running away from the **Nightmare, **desperately searching for somewhere dark. It was late in the day, but there was still a lot of light left. Enough light, that at their current pace, they would be devoured by the **Nightmare **long before they found substantial darkness to use.

"Ok, you're too slow." Saeko said to me, as the two of us narrowly dodged a car that had been launched by the **Nightmare.** Both of us had sensed the car coming, as though we had a sixth sense around us. Saeko jumped to the left and landed with a roll as I simply dove to the right, rolled on the ground for a second, before getting back up and continuing to run.

All of a sudden, my legs got taken out from under me and slim but strong arms trapped me against two _very _warm mounds. It turns out Saeko had rushed over and swooped me into her arms, as though she was carrying me over the threshold. "Until you can figure out how to run fast, we are faster with me just carrying you."

Saeko adjusted her arms around me, probably making sure I was secured. The warmth from her chest was like a calming wave, and as I'm thinking about the mounds of warmth Saeko launches herself, a rooster tail of dirt could be seen behind her.

The **Nightmare** roared loudly once it realized its prey (us) was escaping, and let out a guttural screech. Its body began contorting, its upper limbs bending inwards until it was on all fours on the ground. Its lower jaw protruded forward, the bottom incisors growing until it was 3 inches long. With one last roar it went on its hind legs, before slamming back down to the ground and ran at an insane speed.

"Saeko, that thing's keeping up with us, and it's a lot uglier than it was before." "What the hell is that supposed to mean and is that even possible?" Saeko replied. I think up of a mental image of the **Nightmare **and sent it to Saeko. So far these were the only things I could do with my telepathy, but maybe if I keep practicing, I can learn new things?

"Is it me or did that thing get uglier..." Bumping along on her chest I almost bit my tongue off trying to speak, "I don't know, but either way it just got faster, we need to hurry or it will catch up to us."

Saeko sped up even faster, clearly pushing herself to the limit, if her slightly hitched breathing was any indicator. If her speed was to be compared to something, the closest thing would be that of a cheetah. Her speed wasn't some instantaneous blur of speed but more like an Olympic sprinter who could keep on running. This being said, Saeko was still new to these abilities and hadn't built up any stamina for it yet.

"I can't keep this up much longer." Saeko said with a slight hitch in her breathing. "It's ok you've killed enough time, look" I said and pointed up at the sky. The sun had begun setting making the shadows longer and darker, which to the two of us, was a blessing in disguise. "What's that up there?" I said pointed awkwardly over her arms, seeing as how my other arm was currently trapped between Saekos peaks.

The place I was pointing too was a huge building that looked like some sort of factory, surrounded by an iron fence. Inside the fence a few of **Them **were walking around aimlessly, probably workers that got trapped, but the biggest thing was that the entire front side of the building was encased in shadows. The sun was blocked by the building creating a dark field that they could use. The only problem now was the infected inside the fence.

"What do you think?" I said to Saeko as she let me down. "Saeko observed the area before giving a satisfied nod. "This will work, lets just clean this area up." Saeko turned around and looked towards where we had come. The rumbles in the earth confirmed that the creature was still following them, but far enough for them to get prepared.

The two of use gracefully hopped over the fence, and landed in a crouch before launching ourselves at the infected. I let Saeko get the infected on the left while I focused on the two I had in front of me.

With a quick slash of my sword, I quickly decapitated the first one I front of me, now unfazed by the sound of meat thumping to the ground. Without hesitation I immediately moved on to the next target. With one slash I sliced up from the waist to the shoulder, before completing the spin with a slash parallel to the ground. The body behind me fell into its three parts as I look over to Saeko who also dispatched her targets just as efficiently.

Now all that was left was to wait, and hope. "So now that we are in the darkness, what's the plan." I asked as I tighten my grip on the sword, the thundering echoes getting louder. "Nope I was kind of hoping that something would have happened already" She answered honestly.

With a loud roar the **Nightmare **came into view, stalking it's way down the street towards us. Its extended jaw dripped with saliva as those eyeless holes just seemed to stare at them, as though it could see into him.

"No matter what happens… I just want to say… you're not alone Saeko" I said as I was looking at her. We stared into each other's eyes, hers still black, and she turns back towards the **Nightmare.**

"I know"

* * *

Rei was starting to get very worried about Saeko and Takashi now. Her and the rest of the group had arrived at what must've been the aftermath of a recent fight, if the wreckage around her was any indication.

I was currently looking at a partially caved in wall, the cause being from what looked like something had been thrown into it. Scattered among the ground were deep indents of something big and very heavy. The claws at the tips were so sharp that little holes were made into the solid earth.

"This is where you saw them last?" I asked Brock and Asami. The two of them had met up with our group at a collapsed building, their faces pale and etched with fear. They had hotwired a car and had brought them to where they last saw Takashi and Saeko, but something was off.

They saw something that scared them.

Something that scared them bad. Really bad.

I looked around and tried to formulate a strategy. The first thing that came to mind, almost like instinct, was to treat it like a hunt. Something had attacked her friends, and now the only thing left to do is track down where they went.

They were going to find them. They had to.

Examining the ground around me, I looked for any clues that might have shown which way to go from here, though the options were limited. They were down a side street in a warehouse district area, so there weren't many places to choose. Walking down the street, I continue pushing forward the way we were going, my gaze sweeping the ground looking for tracks.

My hunch paid off, as about 100 ft down the street I found another footprint left by the beast. It was clear now that it was running down the street, but why? There were no vehicle marks to be seen, so Saeko and Takashi couldn't have fled by car. Were they on foot?

As crazy as that sounded, I couldn't think of any other explanation. Somehow, they were running down the street faster then a 7 ft abomination. "Okay, we are moving this way. Grab your gear and let's head out." The sound of rustling could be heard as everyone got to their tasks. I don't know when they started looking to me like a leader, but even Brock and Asami didn't question me, and they weren't even in our group.

Once it was clear everyone was ready, I took point and began following the tracks down the street. "The tracks have a good distance between them, meaning that thing was in a run, so we need to pick up the pace if we are going to catch up." A resounding chorus of "Yes, Ma'am (Brock?) Roger, Lets do it!" echoed from behind me.

As we ran, I fell back so I was running with Brock and Asami, "I need to ask you two something and I need you to be perfectly honest with me." I said, just loud enough for them to hear me, but not loud enough that others could listen in easily.

Brock and Asami gave each other a quick look before Brock nodded his head. "Okay, what do you want to know?" "Something scared you, bad. I want to know what it was."

I could visibly see Brock and Asami's face get pale, meaning that I was right. After a few moments of silence while running, Brock finally spoke.

"I don't know what I saw, or even to begin to explain it." "Well start with this creature, what was it?" Asami was the one to answer this time. "It was horrible and disgusting! It had no skin!" The fuck? "And it was huge! But there was something weird about it" "What do you mean?"

"well it attacked Saeko and Asami yes, but it made sure not to slice them, I mean have you seen these claw marks? It could easily rip them to shreds!" "Asami's got a point." Takagi said, as she appeared to be listening in on their conversation.

"It sounds to me like it's a weird version of a Boo Hag." Takagi had said this before her face went blank. "ok that's weird… I didn't even know what a Boo Hag was before now."

Hmm…. First my archery preference, now Takagi's sudden knowledge? What the fuck is going on?

"Well since you clearly have the knowledge now you want to elaborate on what a Boo Hag is?" I asked her. "Well for starters they aren't supposed to be real. They are mythological creatures." "Yea well neither are zombies so keep talking." I retort back.

"Well let's start with it's a long way from home. Boo Hags were mostly referenced to be from the south part of North America. The legend goes that they are like vampires, but instead of feeding on blood they feed on their breath, literally suffocating them."

"If the victim struggles or fights back, it gets violent and rips their skin off to use as its own, however it needs to return to its own skin after a while or it will get stuck in its form. And again, HOW THE FUCK DO I KNOW THIS?!"

Deciding to ignore Takagi's mini melt down, "Well since we are at, do you know how to kill it?" Takagi's face soured up. "That's just it, there's no mention in myth on how to kill one. Maybe another mythological creature?" Takagi said hopefully.

Hmm another creature huh? What about power? Well if this new knowledge of hunting and archery was any indicator, something had blessed me and Takagi, who it was that had blessed me I had no idea, a few guesses but no proof. But if we were to be gifted then you know damn well that Saeko and Takashi were as well.

Now we just had to find them.

We were a good mile away from our starting point when we stumbled up on a car half buried into the pavement. It looked like something had thrown it with so much force that the car was almost completely crumpled up like an aluminum can. "We are on the right path that's for sure."

All of a sudden, a loud roar echoed in front of us, it was faint so whatever it was, was still a good distance away. Whether that was a good or bad thing was unknown, seeing as how likely it was that Saeko and Takashi were at the origin of the roar.

"Come on people, we gotta move faster." "Tell me… again…. why we…. didn't take… the vehicle?" Kohta said in between breaths. "For starters not all of us would have fit in it, we weren't leaving anyone behind."

With nothing else to add to that, I continue pushing forward with the rest of the group, hoping that we will be able to find Saeko and Takashi before nightfall.

That hope however turned out to be nonexistent, as an hour later of walking they still were following tracks, and they still had yet to see any sign of their friends. They had ended up on the outskirts of the neighboring city, high up on the hills.

The once beautiful and vibrant city now looked like an empty shell of itself, all of its previous beauty was now hidden in the shadows and darkness. "Isn't that Omashu?" Takagi said out loud as we looked down upon it.

"Yea, you kids are looking at what was once Yakuza central." A collective "Huh?" rang out as Brock was the one to say this. "Yea it's a very little-known fact, only reason I know is because I did some undercover work there."

"That city looks pretty on the outside, but in reality, it was run by two different gangs. The Caldera Family and the Lee Family. The Calderas were emotionless killers, specializing in knives and ranged combat. They were often hired out as assassins to wealthy people."

"The Lee family was less…. cynical. They stuck to the old techniques, learning fighting styles like Krav Maga and Dim Mak. They were renowned for their hand to hand combat, and specialized as bodyguards or personal escorts. They didn't like killing nearly as much as the Calderas."

"While this is very informative, is there any reason behind you mentioning it?" Asami asked, but I answered before Brock did, because the same thing dawned on me. "Because think about it, two highly trained families, in a lawless world, where the strong are on top? They are either fighting each other or securing the city."

"Or they could be hunting for more strong people." Brock added on, and I shuddered at the thought. Based off what I had seen with Takashi and Saeko, and now me and Takagi, there was definitely something going on. People were gaining abilities, whether it be for practical use or combat, and if there was one thing she learned, it is that the strong always want more power.

* * *

As she threw another five knives with pinpoint accuracy, Mai fell back on the bed with a loud sigh. She was bored. Well she was always bored, but she thought with these new things going on she would finally be able to do something.

Her life growing up was very sheltered… is one way of putting it. Her father Luke Caldera was a very powerful man, and she was his only daughter. Growing up she learned how to throw knives at 3 years old. By the time she started elementary school she was already proficient in a wide variety of poisons and could throw weapons with decent accuracy.

By the time she started high school she had already been inducted into the Death Squad her family was known for. She could slice the wings off a fly with her knives that's how precise she was.

On top of all this she had been betrothed to Kahn Lee, her best friend Ty's older brother. Then the sky fell down and all of that changed. Her father immediately sent out word for all members to come home and locked our estate down. That was two weeks ago.

Out of the 150 members of the family out on jobs only 5 came home, and 3 of those 5 had come back bitten and were killed. Father had said that, the dead weren't staying dead, and the only way to kill them was to strike the head.

That was easy for her, after all she was the next in line for the Caldera Family. She didn't earn the nickname Lady of Death for nothing. Maybe that's why she was visited by the deity.

It was maybe four days after everything turned to shit, when a mysterious woman came out of nowhere. He called himself Thanatos, a god of something that I can't remember. He said that when I meet his parent's things will become clearer.

That was a week ago now and still no sign of these "parents". So, to kill some time I decided to do another round of target practice. I head out to the courtyard, which has since been turned into a makeshift training area. An assortment of targets was lined up against one side of the wall for the ranged warriors, while wooden and stuffed dummies were on the other side for the melee fighters.

Sure enough, there was Ty, practicing as always. She had known Ty since they were really young, their fathers deciding that as the next heads of their family that they learn from one another at an early age. Instead what happened was the two of them became the best of friends.

Growing up Ty loved getting into trouble. She was a crafty little girl and focused on her flexibility and stealth just as much as I did with my knives. If she wasn't such a troublemaker and loved creating discord, she would make a great assassin. Ty confided in her that she too was visited by a goddess, this one's name being Eris.

The fates must've made the two of us friends because Ty got the exact same message as her. That when they meet their deity's parent everything will be clearer.

As she was about to say hi to her friend, a messenger came in to the courtyard. "Lady Caldera, Lady Lee, your presence is being requested in Lord Calderas throne room." With his message being delivered the messenger quickly turned around and left.

"Wonder what that was about?" Ty asked me. "No clue, but did you have to wear that outfit?" I said to her while stifling my laugh. Ty Lee was a slim girl, standing a little over 5 feet, however every inch of her was made up of toned muscle from years of training. Her brown hair was bulled back into a pony tail went past her shoulders. Her blue eyes and olive toned skin giving away her European background.

She was currently wearing what could've been considered a leotard, a skin tight suit that the assassins used when on a stealth mission. It had no pockets, nor the room for the blades which is why I hated it. But exactly why it was perfect for Ty Lee since her style was hand combat.

"I look like this so you can look like that" Ty said with a laugh as she cartwheeled along with me. I hated wearing just skin tight clothing. It wasn't that I didn't have the curves for it, more the exact opposite. The main reason was that my cloak over my suit was perfect for my fighting style. Various knives and razor discs were attached over my suit, all in strategic locations so that I would have a weapon no more what position I was in.

My go to weapons were always attached to my wrists, which is why I often walked around with my hands in my sleeves, ready to go at a moments notice. My white skin contrasted with my pitch-black hair, and my black clothes, but I liked it. It was as though I was the personification of Death.

As we entered into Fathers room, the whole place was filled with other various Weapons of the new world. Father called them Weapons because they had been gifted with strong abilities from the gods. It was also one of the reasons why me and Ty haven't mentioned to him that we have been gifted yet.

The Weapons were considered fierce warriors who have been blessed by the gods, most of them being assassins who have killed many people over the years. The Weapons were then divided into 4 categories.

The first category were the Elementals. These were people who had been gifted with the very elements themselves and were considered very deadly, especially if they were in their element, or had it handy.

The second category was the Summoners. These were people who were gifted with the ability to manifest or conjure up something. A big one of these types were the necromancers. However, despite their best efforts they were unable to control the infected, only things that had been killed by other means.

The third Category were the Supports. Most of these people turned out to be healers. Though a few rumors were spread saying that mind readers and future sight readers were also spotted. Supports rarely saw any action and were mostly used by Father in planning or after battle for the wounded.

The last Category was a speculation since we had only heard rumors about them. These were the Primordials. People who have been gifted by the oldest of deities. Some people even theorized that they were the Gods of Death themselves.

After hearing the rumors about the Primordials, it only strengthened Ty and my convictions on not letting father know about our gifts. For starters we didn't even know what our abilities were, only that we knew we had something.

Once we joined the other Weapons, Father motioned for silence. "I call you hear today to bring you news from our scouts. It appears we have discovered a Weapon or a creature, who we believe has been gifted by Echidna."

A murmur broke out among the crowd, everyone reacting differently to the news. Ty leans her head towards me and whispers "Who's that?" I rack my head for the answer. "a god of monsters I think, something like that."

"We have confirmed reports that one of their creations is in the southern part of our city." After a long pause, I looked up and realized Father was staring right at me. "I will be sending out my Daughter Mai and others to go inspect and report back to me."

Wait what.

I'm going where?!

I hear Ty's gasp as she sharply inhales between her teeth, "I also believe that my Daughter Ty, should also accompany Lady Mai, it would be good learning experience for them."

With that said Father sent one of his minions to escort me and Ty out to get ready for our mission. Hahn, one of Father's best fighters, debriefed us as we suited up.

"Our scouts informed us of a beast chasing two people in the southern part of the city. Our mage confirms that it's a beast created by Echidna, a cross between a Nemean Lion and a Boo Hag."

"Sounds like fun, and hard to kill." I mumbled. "Well if it's part Nemean Lion, that means its only weak point is its mouth, everything outside is invincible." Ty answered. Hahn nodded his head at Ty's words. "Your absolutely correct, that's why your father sent us."

With that said a girl stepped out from the shadows behind Hahn. She screamed military, from the fully loaded tactical suit, to the heavily modified sniper rifle hefted over her shoulder. Her purple hair gave her the look of nasty bedhead.

"This woman here will accompany us as long-range support for the infected. She doesn't answer to me or to you. Is that understood ladies." Me and Ty both nod our heads together. "Good, then let's move out."

**A/N **Welcome to my new characters! They will play a key role in the story line. As always please read and review.


	8. Conduit of Death

**Erebus, The Conduit of Death**

Mai did her last checks on her weapons, making sure everything was secure and ready for action, before standing at attention before Hahn. Me, Ty and Hahn were outside the family's complex awaiting our transport to arrive. I couldn't see that purple hair military lady anywhere. Mai wondered where she went?

Mai knew there was an ulterior motive for Father sending me out to fight, and the fact that Ty had also been sent out with her only strengthened that belief. The last time we had been sent out was way before all this crazy stuff happened. Me and Ty were sent out together on an Assassination mission. However, Father failed to mention that the target was the 10 yr. old son of a rival gang. After that botched mission Father never sent her out again, so why now?

Did Father know about the gods that visited the two of us? Knowing Father, it wasn't completely impossible. As I was spinning in the downward spiral that was my mind, Ty was doing some last-minute stretches before Hahn gave a "ahem" and the two of us stood at attention, awaiting our orders.

"Our friend has already gone ahead to position herself for long ranged support, while she's doing that, I will now fully debrief you" Debrief us? Didn't he do that already?

"Our main mission is not to kill the creature; it is instead to investigate the two people it was chasing. Our mages sensed something from them and Lord Caldera wants them." Uh oh. That can't be good. The only time Father ever wanted anything was when it was to benefit their family, Father never did anything for just the hell of it. Who are these people?

"Our objective is this. We observe and report and if possible. Capture." Both me and Ty looked at each other. "So, what you're saying, is that the reason why two of our family's best fighters are being sent, is because you need us for a kidnapping?" Ty said very meekly.

"If that's how you want to look at it then sure. I however see it as two loyal members of the family fulfilling their fathers wishes. Will that be a problem?" Hahn said as he glared at us. Growing up in this family had taught me a lot of things. But one of the biggest things is to never, ever, EVER, question Father.

"No Lord Hahn." The two of us said to him with our heads bowed in respect. Hahn seemed to be pleased by our answer as he let the conversation drop. "Very good. Let's go then." The three of us hopped into the vehicle provide by one of the servants and drove off.

"**Look for Erebus, He will help you unlock your powers" **A voice whispered in Mai and Ty's ears as they departed.

Mai took one last look at the complex behind her, not knowing that this would be the last time she would see it as a Weapon for Father. Mai squeezes Ty's hand as they go off and face this new world.

* * *

It had been a very long day for Takashi. The whole day started out on a routine run for supplies. Now him and Saeko were holed up with two young girls while the **Nightmare **was clawing at the building, tearing chunks of concrete out.

This last hour especially had been very crazy for Takashi, and it all started when him and Saeko made a stand against the **Nightmare. **The two of them had expected something to happen immediately once they got into the darkness, but after nothing happening, they knew they only had one option left and that was fight for their lives.

After about five minutes of dodging and slashing to no progress we were back to square one. Trying to figure out our powers in the darkness. His telepathy allowed them to have perfect communication, so evasion of the creature's attacks was easy, but they both knew that they couldn't keep it up forever.

It wasn't until the sun finally set that something started to happen. Saeko was in mid slash when her body started to take on a glow. After the blow glanced harmlessly off the creature's hind legs she leapt back to where I was standing. "Well something's happening" Takashi said to her. Her eyes seemed to be lit up. "I know, it's... it's like I can feel the darkness around me, as though it's waiting for me." Huh? "Waiting for you to do what?"

As soon as Takashi said that Saeko thrust her hand forward, and the shadows around them seemed to solidify as a tendril of inky blackness shot out at the beast. Only this time instead of being deflect a wet THWACK was heard as the creature roared in pain, a bloody gash left behind by the tendril.

"Well now we know how to hurt the thing. Looks like our powers are effective against it" Saeko said with a smile. I could easily figure out why she was so happy now. We finally figured out how to injure it. But injuring and killing are two very different things, especially in our current situation.

We were about to strategize a method of attack when all of a sudden, we heard a male voice shout from somewhere above us. Out of nowhere two girls landed in front of me and Saeko, standing between us and the beast.

Two things immediately happened. The first was that the creature seemed to decide that the two girls in front of it were the easier prey, and immediately ignored them. At the same time the two girls suddenly launched themselves at the creature.

"Those girls have got to be insane." Takashi muttered. Saeko gave a small chuckle, "And we aren't?" He shrugged his shoulders in response, but gave a small smile. She did have a point.

The taller girl was jumping around throwing things at the beast. From what we could tell they looked like throwing knives though we couldn't be positive. The smaller girl took a more direct approach, sliding under the creature's belly and proceeding to launch a volley of punches at the **Nightmares **belly.

This turned out to be their fatal mistake as the small girl immediately screamed out, before scrambling to her feet and narrowly dodging a swipe of the **Nightmare's **claws by doing a tumble under it. The taller girl rushed over to the smaller one, and that's when the **Nightmare **pounced.

The taller girl had been distracted so she had no idea an attack was coming at her. Without hesitation Takashi immediately leapt in front of the girl and held his blade tight to deflect the attack. What felt like a million bricks of force smashed against him, but despite that he still somehow didn't budge an inch. The creature again roared in anger and stumbled back a few feet.

Takashi looked down at his weapon and realized what had happened. The blade he was holding was coated black, but he could feel it was the darkness wrapped around the blade. "_Thank you Saeko" _She literally just saved my life. "_Umm, that wasn't me. I'm pretty sure that was all you." _Wait what? But he didn't even summon it or do anything?

Not taking the time to question it Takashi immediately grabbed the two girls and threw the taller one to Saeko who caught her in her arms, as Takashi slung the taller one over his shoulders. "Hey what the hell do you think your doing? I AM LADY CALDERA UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT" The girl screamed at me as she starts pounding his back with surprising strength for a girl.

"If you don't shut up and stop your squirming, I will leave you here for that creature is that understood?" Takashi said as he continued running away, Saeko and the other girl shortly behind him. Lady Caldera's sudden silence was all the answer Taskashi needed.

The two of them carrying the girls were running through the alleyways, getting deeper and deeper into the city. They got so deep that they began getting confused on where they were. The looks on our faces must've been obvious because the smaller girl in Saekos arms spoke out. "there should be a abandoned house down this way that we can take shelter in, its made out of concrete so we should be safe for a little bit."

"_What do you think?" _I asked Saeko. _"We got nothing to lose, besides we can easily handle these girls if they decide to trick us." _With that settled the two of us follow the girl's instructions and were led to what looked like a modern dojo. It was as a low 1 story building that, like the girl said, was completely made out of concrete.

The door luckily was unlocked, so after running in and securing the door we just came through, we drop the girls down and faced them.

"So, tell me again why you two RAN OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR FIGHT?!" Takashi half yelled at the girls. The two girls meekly looked at him before the taller one in the cloak finally answered. "We don't know why, we just felt drawn to you guys. We don't know why I swear!" "Takashi, can you scan their minds?" Saeko suddenly said.

Hmm, I didn't think of that. Walking over Takashi crouched down to the tall girl and put his hands on her head. She made a movement like she was going for something in her sleeve, but Saeko quickly acted and a tendril of darkness with a pointed tip quickly shot up in front of her face. "No sudden movements." Saeko said, her arm outstretched making it clear she was the one who commanded the tendril.

Both of the girl's eyes widened at Saeko's power, the taller one slowly removing her arms for her sleeves, showing that nothing was in her hands. Takashi put his hands back on her head and dived in. He know it was an invasion of privacy but times were different. Takashi tried to delve in but it was like pushing through thick fog, her thoughts obscured.

"What are you doing to her!" Takashi faintly heard in the background; he hadn't realized that the Lady Caldera girl was screaming. Releasing his grip, Takashi stepped back for a second and looked at her in the eyes. "The reason it hurts so much is your fighting me do you understand? The more you fight it the more it will hurt."

With that warning said Takashi placed his hands back on her head and dived back in. His warning must've gone through to her as the fog was now gone. The girls name was Mai, and she was the daughter of one of the Yakuza families that ran the city. She was also an assassin. Interesting.

As he continued diving, he looked for her intentions as to why they were here and end up reliving one of her memories.

He was standing outside a weird building, the two girls and another guy were talking together

"Our main mission is not to kill the creature; it is instead to investigate the two people it was chasing. Our mages sensed something from them and Lord Caldera wants them."

Wait, they wanted me and Saeko? Why?

"Our objective is this. We observe and report and if possible. Capture." As the man said that Takashi could see an uneasy look given between the girls. They clearly didn't like the plan, which considering the fact that they were apparently both assassins was pretty ironic.

"So, what you're saying, is that the reason why two of our family's best fighters are being sent, is because you need us for a kidnapping?" The small girl meekly said.

"If that's how you want to look at it then sure. I however see it as two loyal members of the family fulfilling their father's wishes. Will that be a problem?" The man said as he glared at the two girls. Hmm, so it was both of their fathers who ordered his and Saeko's capture. Interesting.

Getting what he needed to make sure the girls spoke the truth, Takashi released his grip on Mai's mind, returning to reality. "Well?" Saeko asked him. He stepped back to take a good look at the girls. "They were there by accident; they were off hunting I think Barry's group." He said as he kept his eyes locked on the two girls.

He'll admit that these girls were well trained, only a flicker of surprise in their eyes betrayed my lie. Takashi had a feeling Saeko knew he was lying, but he also knew that she trusted him and that He must've had a reason for lying to her.

"You… you entered my mind." The girl said slightly dazed, before looking at Saeko with the tendrils of darkness wrapped around her, awaiting her command. The full extent of the situation must've finally dawned on the girl as she took a shuddering breath.

"Are you… are you guys Primordials?" Primordial? The word without context meant nothing to me, but it sounded right. Saeko stalked forward before crouching before Mai. The girl visibly flinched as Saeko lowered her face to hers. "And just what exactly is a Primordial?"

"Well we don't know for sure. What I am about to say is only rumors from what I've heard." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "The Primordials are people blessed by the older gods. From what I've heard these are Gods of Death themselves, each one person having the strength of an army."

"_Isn't that what Nyx and Erebus are?" "I think so yea." _Hmm, if this was true, then that would explain why they were being hunted. "Did your Father mention any others?" The Mai looked confused before shaking her head. "No, not that I'm aware of at least. Why?" Ignoring her question, _"This is good then, they don't know about Rei and the others." "Let's hope not. I hope they are doing okay."_

* * *

"WE ARE SO NOT OKAY" Rei screamed as her and the rest of the group continued running down the alleyway. Behind the group a horde of infected were closely following them, a lot faster than the other infected they've encountered in the past.

Something felt off about these things but she didn't have time to think about it. This all started when they decided to camp outside the city for the night. The tracks had led into the city but were lost as soon as they hit the paved roads. Seeing how it would be worse to just blindly walk through the city at night, the group had set a make up camp hidden in the alcoves of a building.

It was the screams of Brock that woke us up. Rei, Takagi, Kohta and Shizuki were together in the corner when all of us jolted awake, as another scream and a volley of gunshots quickly followed. Instinct had me immediately grab for my bow and sai's, quickly swinging my quiver into place as I prepare for the enemy.

What I see brought back nightmares that I haven't had since I left the high school. A horde of them of at least 20 were coming at us, already almost on top of us. It looked like Brock who was on guard had walked down the street and got attacked, his arm the only thing visible beneath the pile of bodies.

Asami, who must've also been awake, was screaming at the top of her lungs, Takagis gun in her hands, as she wildly sprayed bullets at the horde. "Let's get out of here!" I quickly yell, as Takagi takes her gun back from Asami, Kohta tosses her an assault rifle that he had in the duffle bag.

Taking the charge, Rei leads the group deeper into the city. The undead were close behind them but something didn't feel right to Rei. Their movements were different then the ones she encountered at the High School, but at that time she wasn't able to figure it out.

As they started getting deeper into the city, Rei realized that they ended up getting lost in the maze of the dead city. She had no idea which way was the mall, nor did she have any clues as to where Takashi and Saeko went.

For right now they needed to escape this horde coming after us. Between the occasional shooting and running around street corners, it only took the group about 5 minutes to lose the horde, and themselves.

"Okay now where?" Asami asked Rei. "What's that over there?" Shizuki suddenly shouted. Rei looked over to where Shizuki was pointing, about 5 blocks in front of their current location. Rei could make out a large figure that was doing something to a nearby building, it was hard to tell from this distance.

"Let's take a closer look, but be slow and quiet, we don't know what it is." Rei said, as the others acknowledged her words. As they started getting closer, they were able to start hearing noises coming from the figure. The sounds were really loud, like crashing rocks. They could know see the figure apparently attacking a building in front of it for some reason.

The group could now more clearly see the figure, and they really wish they didn't. The creature had no skin, only mottled red muscle covered his body, with the occasional white tendons peeking through. The face had animalistic feature to it, his lower jaw jutting out farther then the upper jaw.

The beast either had no interest in Rei's group or it had yet to hear them approach thankfully, the main focus seeming to be on the building in front of it. It was currently hunched on its hind legs, using its front legs to tear into the building, each handful equivalated over 600lbs of concrete, wood and other materials that made up the building.

As Rei was about to suggest that the group goes somewhere else, the front of the building exploded right in front of the creature, pieces of concrete were treated as shrapnel as the force of the blast sent the creature flying out of their vision down the street.

Out of the rubble four figures dashed out, heading straight towards the area where the beast was sent flying. All of a sudden one of the figures disappeared suddenly, making Rei believe for a second that she was seeing things. "Wait, wasn't there four people?" Kohta suddenly said.

Ok so maybe she wasn't seeing things, there actually was a fourth person. "Yea I think so, but all of a sudden they disappeared." Rei answered Kohta. "What should we do?" Takagi asked quietly. "I'm gonna go and get a closer look, Kohta watch over the group till I'm back" "Ok!"

As Rei begins her approach, she draws her bow from her back and keeps it ready in her hands, her right fingers lightly resting on the bowstring for a quick reaction. As she makes her way over, the figures start to become more detailed.

Rei can now tell that two of the figures are female and one of them male, at least based off their hair. Deciding to get closer to get a better luck, Rei suddenly realized that one of the girls and the guy looked awfully familiar.

"Takashi?" Rei muttered softly. It had to be him! And that means that the other girl with the sword was definitely Saeko, but who was the second girl? And what about the figure who disappeared? Where did they go?

"What are you doing here?" A voice suddenly said, coming from behind Rei. Rei turned around in fright, but there was no one there! "I'll ask again. What are you doing here?" The voice said again, once again coming from behind Rei. Rei spun around trying to find the owner of the voice, but there was no one nearby! "I'm not going to ask you a third time." The voice now said angrily.

"M- My names Rei" Rei answered shakily. She couldn't go on the offensive since she had no idea where the voice was coming from, leaving her only option to answer the voice. "Rei… Hmm... And may I ask just what exactly you are doing here?"

"We were escaping from a horde of the undead and got chased over here, but where are Saeko and Takashi?" Rei decided to probe the hidden voice and see if she can throw them off guard. She couldn't be sure if the person behind the voice was even affiliated with the others, let alone know Saeko or Takashi well.

However, the moment she said their names, she suddenly felt cold steel on the side of her throat, the blade firmly pressed against her artery. "You have one sentence to explain why you are looking for them. Or I will kill you right here." This time the voice was right in her ear as it whispered, the words as dry as paper, as though killing her wouldn't faze the person at all.

Now Rei was really trembling. She had no idea what relation this shadow had to her friends, but it was clear to her now that the shadow was willing to kill for Takashi and Saeko. "I'm their friend! We got split up the other day, me and the others have been looking for them." Rei immediately shouted out, holding in her fear.

"…. Wait right here." A slight breeze brushed past Rei. Even though a part of her knew that the shadow was gone, Rei didn't dare move. Two minutes later she felt another breeze brush past, and sure enough, "Very well, My Lord told me to bring you and your group to safety and my friend will watch over you." The voice said to Rei. "Your friend? AAH!" As Rei was asking the voice who she meant, a small girl suddenly appeared in front of her.

She looked young, maybe one or two years younger than me, but her whole body radiated with power. She wore a tight outfit, but as far as Rei could tell, had no weapons. "Hi my name's Ty! I'm gonna stay with you till the fights over!" As she finished cheerily explaining herself, she turned her head and looked at the empty space next to her. "You should go and help. We are all still learning our powers, they will need you."

"Be safe." The voice said before the slight breeze brushed by indicating her departure. "Ok let's go." Ty said to Rei. The two girls ran back the way Rei came to join up with the others, but when they got to where Rei left them, there was no one there.

"But… This is where I left them." Rei said in disbelief. She had only been gone maybe 10 minutes, what could have happened to them? Ty squatted down and put her palms on the ground, closing her eyes. "There was a scuffle here recently, I sense blood, but enough for it to be from a fatal wound." Ty murmured.

"What are you doing, how did you know that?" Rei said shocked. Just as Ty said that, Rei discovered the trail of blood droplets on the ground. Ty opened her eyes and gave Rei a small smile. "My goddess is Eris, the Goddess of Strife, I guess one of the side abilities is to sense discord, or in this case an altercation. It just felt natural to do." "Huh" Rei muttered. That ability didn't sound very useful for fighting.

Rei adjusted the grip on her bow, as she took a deep breath in, she let her instincts take over. "Let's go find them, I can follow the scent." Ty was the one this time to be surprised. "Who is your deity?" It was Reis turn to smile now, "Mine is Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Proficient with bow and arrow and tracking." She finished with the glint in her eyes.

"Okay let's do this." Rei said to Ty as the two of them went and followed the trail, on their way to rescue their friends.

* * *

**10 Minutes Earlier**

Takashi, Saeko and the two new girls Ty and Mai, were currently inside a building, trying to come up with a plan to defeat the beast outside. As they were discussing strategies, "When you entered my mind, I felt a familiar presence. May I ask who your deity is?" Mai suddenly quietly inquired to Takashi." Takashi thought about it, then looked at Saeko. "_What do you think?" "Can we trust them?" "She was sent to kill us but I think it was more her Father's wish then hers. I see no harm in telling her." "Very well I trust you." _

"My deity is Erebus, Saeko's deity is Nyx." As soon as Takashi said this everything turned black. When the blackness subsided, Takashi and Saeko immediately knew where they were. This was the God's Realm. Mai and Ty however were new to this and you can see in their eyes they were beginning to freak out.

"It's ok this is the God's Realm; Erebus must've brought us here." Takashi said to the girls to calm them down. Their faces visibly relaxed, before freezing up again as four shadowy figures appeared behind everyone respectfully.

Takashi knew that the two figures behind him and Saeko were Erebus and Nyx respectively, but who were the two deities behind the girls? **"**_**Hello my children, it is good to see you again. I hope you have chosen worthy champions of your abilities." **_Nyx started the sentence and Erebus finished it, talking to the two figures behind Mai and Ty.

"_**Thank you, Father." **_The male figure said, "_**Thank you Mother." **_The female figure said. Then they both said at the same time, "_**Yes Mother, Father. We believe our champions are well suited to be gifted our abilities. Each one's strength compliments ours."**_

Nyx and Erebus both nodded in confirmation. Mai and Ty were clearly freaked out when Nyx and Erebus were asking if they were worthy or not, but relief was soon washed over their face with their deity's answers.

Nyx stepped forward and addressed Mai first, "_**Hello there little one, and what is your name?" **_"My name is Mai, Madam Goddess." She answered politely. Nyx gave a small chuckle upon hearing how Mai addressed her. "_**You can just call me Nyx, child. Do you know who your deity is?" **_

"Umm... I believe his name is Thanatos?" _**"Very good child, and do you know what he is the god of?" **_"Death, right?" "_**To be more specific, he is the personification of Death. He walks between both the Realm of the Living and the Realm of the Dead. You too will inherit his abilities."**_

Thanatos then started explaining to Mai." _**My abilities are too powerful for you to inherit all at once, I will first give you the ability to walk between the Realms. What this means is that you will have an Ethereal form that can not be seen by the living. In essence you are invisible to everyone but Erebus's patron." **_

"So, in other words only Takashi can see me when I change forms?" "I won't necessarily see you, as more see your ethereal form." Takashi explained, the knowledge flowing through into him.

"What about me?" Ty asked meekly. The figure behind her smiled. _**"Your Goddess is Eris; do you know who she is?" **_ "No, I'm sorry Nyx, I have never heard that name before." Ty answered sadly, but you could hear a tint of fear in her voice.

"_**You need not be afraid my child. Your Goddess is the Goddess of Strife and Discord. You can cause chaos inside a person's own body with your abilities. Peoples strength is flowed through their meridians, where you can cause discord." **_

"Wow that's so cool! I mean, thank you Goddess Nyx" Ty chatted away before bowing respectfully. Eris gave a soft laugh at Ty's words. Ty then exchanged a look with Mai and then looked at the gods. "So, you are both children of Nyx and Erebus?" They ask them. "_**Yes." **_

"Then if that's the case we would like to make a pledge." Mai and Ty said as they dropped to their knee before Takashi. "I would like to swear my fealty to you."

Takashi and Saeko both raised their eyebrows. "But what about your Father?" Takashi asked Mai. "We have never seen eye to eye and I feel he plans to exploit me. Since you are the Conduit of Death, I would rather swear my life to always protect you as your personal assassin.

_Hmm, having an invisible bodyguard would be very advantageous, plus I can sense her words are true. _As he was thinking this, suddenly information filtered through his head, and he immediately made his decision. "Very well, you shall stay by my side in Ethereal form and be my bodyguard. As for Ty, I hope that you will serve me with just as much loyalty."

At Takashi's words the girls both bowed their head. "As you wish Master." Takashi gave a soft laugh and a smile creeped at the corner of his lips. _Master. Hmph, I could get used to that. _Turning his head, he looked at Saeko to gauge her reaction. Her face was as stone wall as ever, impossible to read.

_Oh well, who knows? Maybe I'll have a harem. _Takashi laughs softly before turning to Erebus. "So, I think I may have figured out some of the power you have given me." _**"Oh, is that so?" **_Erebus said with a laugh. _**"And just what exactly did you figure out?" **_

"From what I can tell I can obtain a person's powers with a psychic connection."

"_**HAHAHA HAHAHA, is that really what you think my powers are? Boy, I am the Conduit of Death! I have birthed the very personifications of Death themselves! And you think a mere parlor trick like that is the full extent of your abilities? HAHAHA HAHAHAHA**_

"_**I will tell you this much. Me and Nyx's powers are very alike, however in the Realm of the Living I am more powerful then my beloved. As of right now you have only scratched the surface of your true potential." **_

As Erebus finished speaking, the darkness washed over again, bringing them back inside the damaged building.

"Well that was interesting." Takashi said with a disheartened laugh. _What the hell was Erebus talking about? Conduit of Death? _As Takashi started to get lost in his thoughts, the loud roar of the beast brought him back to reality.

"Ok, we ready to fight this thing?" Takashi said to the girls. They nodded their heads in confirmation, the two girls with weapons drawing them at the ready. "Ok then let's do this." Takashi focused the darkness into his fist and punched as hard as he could.

BOOOM!

A vortex of black power exploded in front of them, completely destroying the front of the building they were in. Takashi could vaguely make out the beast flying down the street from the force of his blast. "We have no time to waste, after him now!"

As the four of them dashed out, Mai ghosted into her Ethereal form. "Master, I sense a strong Aura nearby." "Go investigate but be quick." "En" Takashi sensed her presence veer off to their right, as him and the remaining two girls pushed forward.

Not too long after, Takashi felt Mai's presence return. "It turns out it was a girl, her names Rei, she's looking for you and Saeko." _Rei? Oh thank god she's ok. _Takashi looked over at Ty, "Have Mai bring you to her then protect her until we meet up with you, ok?" Ty nodded her head, "As you wish" she said as she flew off to the side.

Now for the moment it was just him and Saeko, "Thing got pretty crazy huh." Takashi muttered. "It's ok, we got this, and I believe in you." Saeko said with a smile. As they continued running, they finally caught up with the beast. Both Takashi and Saeko drew their blades at the ready, darkness coiling around the both of them. "Let's finish this." Takashi said as they stalked forward to slay the beast.

**A/n. **So sorry about the delay! Anyways the story is about to finish it's first arc and I have a few ideas on how to start the second arc but I would love your guys inputs. As always please Read and Review and I will see you guys soon!


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